David Schlesinger, global managing editor of Reuters, gave one of the more lucid opinions on the role of blogs and the issue of trust at the recent We Media conference in London.

He emphasized that blogs are a medium which should not be confused with the message. He observed that blogs are not innately trustworthy or distrust-worthy in themselves, and he warned against talking about blogs as one big, unanimous group. There are so many blogs out there -- and each carries its own weight and unique message and inspires a different level of trust.

Moreover, he says that issues of trust are not unique to blogs but have been with us for hundreds of years with other forms of media.