I feel it in my fingers. I feel it in my toes. News is all around me … With apologies to the Troggs (and a liberal use of poetic licence), that, in essence, is how the latest Pew Internet survey describes the way news is distributed and consumed today.

Using multiple platforms and often portable devices, people plug into whatever news interests them (weather tops the list) at any time they choose from any place they want, and often because a friend sent them a link. “Portable, personalized and participatory” is how Pew describes today’s news system.

People aren’t abandoning the news; they’re just coming at it differently. That’s what this study suggests. It’s a fascinating look at how social and technological change is transforming our relationship to the news and a tonic to the sky-is-falling tone that permeates so much recent discussion. Well worth a read …