There are a lot of journalists at the moment who are probing local and national government dealing, on the back of the CDs scandal at the HMCR. As there is so much talk about trust by our journalist contacts, the Montage Team has explored recent scoops from far and wide, including the one by BBC Points West about the recent security breaches at Bath and Bristol hospitals by staff who were caught “surfing” confidential patient records. "See Hannah’s blog for more info. ":http://www.montagecomms.com/blogger/hannah_roberts/blog.html

Meanwhile, I have been discussing the implications of trust, especially in the realm of Facebook and MySpace, and considering the views of the ‘founders of the web 2.0 revolution’ and their blue sky approach to social networking. "See my blog for more info. ":http://www.montagecomms.com/blogger/matt_anderson/blog.html

For example, Chris De Wolfe, co-founder of MySpace, said recently in "Monday’s media Guardian ":http://www.guardian.co.uk/media that “Online social networking sites are laying the groundwork for the new social web, which we believe is becoming infinitely more personal, more portable and more collaborative.” Surely for us all to air our ‘dirty washing’ and personal life on these sites, we need to be sure that A: they are not using these details to sell them onto advertisers (as in the case of "Facebook ":http://www.facebook.com where 50,000 users are petitioning the site to remove a service which automatically records online spending habits) and B: Can we be sure that your potential boss, following this week’s interview, will not be looking at those embarrassing photos of last week’s stag night?

Don’t get me wrong, I am an avid cheerleader of the power of online communications, but we need to be realistic about the limitations of the social networking realm. Yes, they are fantastic tools in promoting your band or brand on the likes of BEBO or a great way to lobby support for your cause on Facebook, for example.

But, as a basic rule of thumb if you are going to use the online media to divulge personal secrets, this needs to be done in a secure group or web forum and not on a MySpace site! After all, would you let everyone know the details your personal life on the front page of a tabloid (MySpace is owned by Rupert Murdoch!) with 54million readers?

Food for thought, I think! Let me know which media you trust the most and I’ll let you know the answers in my next blog, following my research. ;-)

Matt – Montage Communications