JavaScript: 'textarea.value' not working in IE?

Programmer Question

Hi! A few hours ago, I was instructed how to style a specific textarea with JS. The following piece of code (thanks again, Mario Menger) works like a charm in Firefox but unfortunately nothing happens in Internet Explorer (7 tested only so far).

var foo = document.getElementById('HCB_textarea');
var defaultText = 'Your message here';
foo.value = defaultText;
foo.style.color = '#888';
foo.onfocus = function(){
    foo.style.color = '#000';
    if ( foo.value == defaultText ) {
        foo.value = '';
    }
};
foo.onblur = function(){
    foo.style.color = '#888';
    if ( foo.value == '' ) {
        foo.value = defaultText;
    }

};

I've already tried to replace 'value' by 'innerHTML' (for IE only) but to no effect. Any suggestions? TIA

Find the answer here