                         messageText = data[messageField];
                         messageDisplay.text = messageText;
                     }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        messageText = "";
+                        messageDisplay.text = messageText;
+                    }
                 }
                 catch(e:Error)
                 {
+                    messageText = "";
+                    messageDisplay.text = messageText;
                 }
             }
         }

                            createLabelDisplay();
                        labelDisplay.text = labelText;
                    }
                }
                catch(e:Error)
                {
                }
            }
            else if (label && labelField === null) // if there's a label and labelField === null, then show label

/**
 *  The MobileIconItemRenderer class is a performant item 
 *  renderer optimized for mobile devices.  It contains 
 *  four optional parts: 1) an icon on the left, 2) single-line label 
 *  on top next to the icon, 3) multi-line message below label and 
 *  next to the icon, and 4) a decorator on the right.
 *
 *  @see spark.components.List
