When I was asked to compile this column, I thought I had to be particularly careful not to overlap with other forecasters by talking about the interaction between social networking and media - but it's impossible. Social networking has impacted onto every form of communication, especially media. With just a cellphone you can be aware of what's happening anywhere in the world - virtually as it's happening...

The impact of social media is increasing daily. Whenever people turn on their computers, they're likely to receive a message that could change their thinking on a particular issue or make them aware of a new product. In other words, a blurring of the lines between public relations, advertising and straightforward news and editorial.

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Traditional media - mainly newspapers - still generate the bulk of the information that reaches the public, according to a research report by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism. A study into the 'news ecology' in Baltimore, US, found that new media platforms and services like Twitter mainly repeat information generated elsewhere.

An overview of the research on the Pew Research Center's website reads:

Where does the news come from in today's changing media?Who really reports the news that most people get about their communities? What role do new media, blogs and specialty news websites now play?How, in other words, does the modern news "ecosystem" of a large American city work? And if newspapers were to die -- to the extent that we can infer from the current landscape -- what would that imply for what citizens would know and not know about where they live?The questions are becoming increasingly urgent. As the economic model that has subsidized professional journalism collapses, the number of people gathering news in traditional television, print and radio organizations is shrinking markedly. What, if anything, is taking up that slack?

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