It has been conventional wisdom for decades that Americans rely more heavily on television than any other medium for local news and information.
A study to be released next Monday found that TV continues to be the main news source, but only by a slim margin.
Local newspapers, websites and radio stations play a key role as well.
The survey of news consumers, by the Pew Research Centre and the Knight Foundation, found that TV is the main source for three popular topics — weather, traffic and breaking news.
But newspapers, and their websites, are the main source for 11 other topics, such as crime reports, local government updates and planning news.
It also discovered that word of mouth, most likely including text messages and Twitter posts, is the second most common means of news distribution at local level.
"There really is a nuanced ecosystem here, with very old and very new sources blending," said Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
He added: "There's a feeling, I think, that in the digital age, information is a commodity that's just available — and there's not always a sense of how it's generated or produced."
Source: New York Times
