A new report from Hill+Knowlton Strategies shows that despite more access to information, people don’t trust what they hear from government and business, nor do they feel they can hold companies accountable.

H+K conducted a national survey to get the public’s opinion on issues where government and businesses intersect. The results were not good.

Ninety percent, or almost all, of the people said they would sooner trust a friend or family member on company information than the company itself.

If only we could be more like the Swiss.  They really trust their government.

The American distrust is growing, H+K found, with only 30 percent of respondents saying they trust the government and 35 percent saying they trust corporations. That’s a steep drop from 2010, down from 53 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

According H+K, who delivers the message and how is critical. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (62 percent) said meeting with community leaders and 59 percent said meeting with community leaders are effective ways of conveying information.

The survey was done in January and included 2,012 registered voters nationally, with over-samples in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.