From today's eMarketer newsletter comes some very interesting stats regarding trust of various media:

- Not surprisingly, recommendations from friends (word of mouth) is #1 at 48%.

- Online news is slightly more trusted than newspapers.

- Trust of private blogs is DISMAL. (Fewer than 1 in 10 people say they are an 8, 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10 where 1 = "don't trust at all" and 10 = "trust completely")

What does this mean?

My gut reaction is BALANCE. A balance of: online and offline media; traditional and non-traditional; media focus and direct-to-consumer buzz generation through social networks. A program that garners millions of blog impressions but does not inspire consumer trust may be less likely to move the business needle than a well executed online media relations campaign and direct-to-consumer outreach.

Mike Hollywood, Director of New Media