The web is now a more important source of news for most Americans than either newspapers or free-to-air television.

Only just over a quarter of Americans - 27 per cent - picked up a newspaper on any given day, whereas well over a third - 37 per cent - regularly go online for news, according to a report.

Only cable television remains more popular, with 39 per cent regularly tuning in to bulletins on a subscription service - up from 34 per cent two years ago, the Pew Research Centre survey found.

When combined with newspaper websites, just over a third - 34 per cent - of people read 'newspaper content' on any given day, but that was down from 40 per cent on two years ago. By comparison, the percentage who went online for news rose from 31 per cent to 37 per cent.

The percentage who watched a nightly news bulletin on the TV fell from 34 per cent to 29 per cent over the past four years.

Interestingly, those who rely on the web heavily for news were as likely as consumers of more traditional media to buy weekly magazines such as the New Yorker, the survey of 3,600 adults found.

Among the study's other findings was that the proportion of young people (under 25 years) who did not access any news on a typical day grew by more than a third - from 25 per cent to 34 per cent over the past ten years.

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