CNET reported Sunday that the Net is on par with weekly news magazines and TV talk shows as a source of presidential campaign news for many Americans.

TV remains the dominant source (42% get news from local TV, 38% from cable, 35% from national) but the number who rely on TV news has declined. Those who reported reading a dailly newspaper for campaign news dropped from 40% in 2000 to 31% in the latest survey.

Net news posted the largest relative increase, with said they went online for campaign news, either regularly (13%) or occassionally (20%).

However, two-thirds of the 1,500 adults surveyed were Internet users. It is unclear if this is representative of the nation as a whole.

The survey was conducted between 19 December and 4 January in association with the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The margin of error for Internet participants is 3.5%.

Links: InternetNews.com (12 Jan);New Zealand Herald (12 Jan); Salon.com (12 Jan); USA Today (11 Jan)