US voters are tiring of television sound-bite reporting, and turning to the internet and blog sites to find out what is really going on.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project, which has been observing how Americans have been looking at campaign material, said that nearly 30 per cent are using the Internet to get unfiltered campaign material.

A spokesman said that the internet turned the logic of sound-bites on TV on its head, with readers keen to see campaign events in full and read speeches from beginning to end.

The survey also found that Google YouTube and other video sites have become more popular. More than 35 per cent of respondents have now watched a political video online, compared with 13 per cent during the entire 2004 presidential race. Social networking sites have become venues for political debate and discussion, and online fundraising has accounted for up to six per cent of candidates' war chests.

Democrat Barack Obama has been particularly adept at generating small donations from a vast number of Internet users to become the fundraising leader among all the presidential candidates.

Just under half of people surveyed said that they have used the Internet or mobile phone text messaging for some political activity.

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AP