If you consume “news” today, what you’re often really consuming is dopamine. A little outrage, a little drama, a little “wait, what?!” Clickbait is the default mode—while trust has become something of a premium feature.

getpress CEO Max recently gave a TEDx Talk (proud). And he tackles exactly that: What happens when our information spaces drift apart and truth becomes a matter of personal preference? And what does that mean for brands that want to have a voice in the public sphere?

Spoiler: Being loud isn’t enough. And maybe that’s finally some good news. (get-press.de)

There’s a moment that’s become increasingly common over the past few years: You see a news story, open the comments—and realize that people aren’t even talking about the same event. Not because they have different opinions, but because they’re clearly consuming different realities. This isn’t a “people are just stupid” problem. It’s a systemic problem.

Our CEO Max summed it up pretty well in his talk, “Shared Truth in the Age of Algorithms”: When algorithms decide what we see, hear, and believe, truth suddenly becomes not just a question of facts—but also a question of distribution. And, ultimately, of power.

That’s exactly where things get interesting for brands, companies, and communications teams. Because as digital spaces continue to fragment, one thing is becoming increasingly scarce: trust. Not as a feeling, but as a resource that holds our democracy together.

No Public Sphere Without Trust

We often talk about trust as if it were a feeling: “People trust us.” But trust is more like electricity: you only realize how important it is when it’s gone.

A democratic, open society needs shared points of reference. Not so that everyone has the same opinion—but so that discussion remains possible in the first place. And this is especially true where many perspectives, languages, and lived realities come together: without a shared factual foundation, diversity stops being a strength and starts becoming a risk.

Because what’s happening right now isn’t simply “a lot of misinformation.” It’s a shrinking common ground.

When everyone gets their own personal “worldview update” in their feed, consensus doesn’t become harder because people are somehow worse—it becomes harder because the system makes it harder for them to talk to one another.

That’s the bigger picture behind all the talk about “fake news”: the question is whether, as a society, we can still find a way to think together—across communities, industries, and sometimes even borders.

Journalism Isn’t Content. Journalism Is a Corrective.

Quick reality check: There’s enough content out there. What’s becoming scarce is context.

Fact-based, constructive journalism serves a function that platform logic can’t—and, if you ask us, shouldn’t—replace: fact-checking, contextualizing, and weighing information. Not always perfectly, but as a principle: truth isn’t a reach game. And in a connected public sphere, that’s exactly the difference between genuine debate and attention-seeking.

Constructive doesn’t mean “nice.” It means describing problems in a way that allows people to remain capable of taking action. Not just generating outrage, but enabling understanding. And yes, that sounds like an ideal. But we’re pretty sure: without that ideal, things are going to get… uncomfortable. For everyone. Brands included.

No PR Romance – A Signal of Seriousness

Earned media is one of those terms that can sometimes sound like: “We’d love to get an article in the FAZ.” But that’s missing the point.

Taken seriously, earned media is a pretty rare commodity: independent context that you don’t own. And that’s precisely why it works. Unlike owned media (“this is what we say about ourselves”) or paid media (“we pay to make sure someone sees it”), earned media introduces an independent party that checks, contextualizes, asks questions, cuts, sharpens (in the best sense), and ultimately says: this is relevant enough to put out into the world.

It’s not always comfortable. But that’s exactly where its strength lies.

Because this is a form of social and societal grounding. In a world where everyone can claim anything, editorial standards are a piece of “shared truth” infrastructure. Not the only one, but one of the few we already have. And the more diverse the public sphere becomes, the more it needs places that don’t just sort by volume, but by meaning.

And that makes earned media a question of values, too: Do I see communication as a toolbox for grabbing attention? Or as a contribution to a discourse that doesn’t completely drown in cynicism?

Having a point of view in communication means taking responsibility for the space you occupy. “Having a point of view” is often treated as if it were just a statement on the About page. In reality, it shows up where it hurts: in the decisions you make.

Which topics do we push—and which do we leave alone because they would simply generate clicks? Which statements do we substantiate—and which do we deliberately leave vague because it’s more convenient? Which media outlets do we support—not just with quotes, but also by helping journalism survive financially?

Yes, that’s uncomfortable. But if brands want to have a voice, they also need to accept that the public sphere isn’t just a stage—it’s a space we all help shape. And in a diverse public sphere, that space is particularly valuable—as long as it remains fact-based. Especially when different perspectives still need to coexist and remain compatible.

Conclusion: Trust Is the Currency. And Earned Media Is a Solid Bank for It.

In a world of clickbait and fragmented feeds, trust is no longer a byproduct of good communication. It’s the goal. Maybe even the prerequisite for communication to have any real impact at all.

Earned media isn’t the solution to everything. But it is a statement: We’re willing to be scrutinized. We want to exist in contexts that take responsibility seriously. We’re choosing substance over signals alone.

And maybe that’s the most important takeaway from Max’s talk: When “shared truth” starts to crumble, we have to actively rebuild it—not just politically, but through communication, too.