The internet is surging as a main source of information in New Jersey.

One in three New Jerseyans visit a news website nearly every day to obtain news, according to a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll made public Tuesday.

Internet journalism has now surpassed radio as a source of information in the state, and it is gaining on two other staples of news.

• 43 percent watch a news broadcast from a New York City or Philadelphia television affiliate nearly every day, with 70 percent having done this in the past month;
• 42 percent read a newspaper nearly every day, with 80 percent having done this in the past month;
• 32 percent visit a news website nearly every day, with 61 percent having done this in the past month

That’s right the internet has now within 10 percentage points with newspapers in the state. We have to emphasize, however, that the study did not control for people who get their news from a newspaper’s web site. So, caution must be used before crying from the rooftops that newspapers are dead. Regardless, the study signals the importance that new media technology will play even in the newsrooms of the future.

We have talked extensively about New Jersey’s new situation in the past. A recent study showed that the state’s newspapers suffer from its proximity to two major metropolitan areas, New York City and Philadelphia.

Instead of watching local newscasts devoted to New Jersey issues, people in the northern part of the state tend to watch TV news centered on New York City, while people in the south watch stations based in Philadelphia. Many New Jersey residents also listen to out-of-state radio stations and read out-of-state newspapers

That is why New Jersey residents (and even the press corps) have accepted new media as a reliable alternative for local news gathering.

The New Jersey Press Association began issuing press credentials to reporters at theAlternativePress.com, a network of citizen journalists across the state that cover local news developments. As former Forbes editor Scott Reeves observes, “TheAlternativePress.com covers news the New York Times and even Newark, New Jersey-based Star-Ledger can’t. And it may represent the future of local news by delivering what advertisers crave: a clearly defined audience.”