Ninety-three readers took and completed the Estes Valley Voice 2025 Readers’ Survey over the past month. Their feedback is important to us as editors, writers, and creatives because it tells us what is important to news readers in our community.

The survey consisted of 19 questions and asked readers about their news-reading preferences. It also gathered some basic demographic information.

We entered all participants in a drawing for ten $15 gift cards to local coffee shops and bakeries as a way to express our gratitude to everyone who contributed their thoughts. And the winners are: Janet Gehlhausen, Judy Davis, Vicki Wright, Kevin Patrick, Rik Forschmiedt, Frank Chavez, Annelies Hall, Staci Gower, Scott Thompson, and Marlys Polson. Thank you to everyone who participated.

What we learned

The importance of local news: 94% of our readers said local news was very important, and 71% follow local news “a lot” to “a great deal.”

While the Estes Valley Voice is not even 18 months old, local readers in the Estes Valley are turning to this publication for local news significantly more than other publications, and by as much as 55%. Only 35% of readers responding to our survey reported reading the local legacy newspaper, either in print or online. In contrast, 60% read the shopper in print, and 32% read it online.

For state and national news, our readers primarily read The New York Times online (55%), The Denver Post online (35%), The Colorado Sun (27%), The Wall Street Journal online  (20%), and BizWest (13%).

News consumption habits have become more digital

Increasingly, news is read digitally by an increasing number of people. A 2024 study by the Pew Research Center found that 86% of adults get at least some, if not all, of their news online on their smartphone, tablet, or computer. People in the Estes Valley who read the news are no different.

Estes Valley Voice readers primarily access the news on their computers (42%), followed by smartphones (37%), and then tablets (19%). Only 2% read the news in print.   

Producing news in a broadsheet or tabloid newsprint format is expensive. By the time the news is written, laid out, printed, and distributed, it is outdated and has already been read online. Paper, ink, and distribution costs, as well as paying journalists to attend public meetings, conduct interviews, and cover special events, add up.

Turning the pages of a newspaper is akin to using a rotary dial phone or an 8-track tape player. The technology of news has changed, and readers have moved on. Digital, online news is more nimble, and an increasing number of readers do not want to add paper and ink to landfills.

We asked readers what types of local news they are most interested in, and they said, in ranked order:

  • Local government (issues in front of the town and county, elections, local taxing districts, changes in law/regulations) – 89%
  • The business community (the local economy, what’s new, what’s changing) – 45%
  • What’s going on/local entertainment (music, plays, movies, art shows, events, festivals, etc.) – 37%
  • Opinion and commentary columns about local issues – 37%
  • Crime and crisis events – 30%
  • Wildlife and outdoor activities (day hiking, backpacking, climbing, news about RMNP) – 25%
  • Environment (ecology, sustainability, environmental protection) – 22%
  • Estes Park School (activities, achievements of students, administration, school sports) – 21%
  • Features and profiles about Estes Park people – 20%

Those percentages don’t mean that readers are not interested in the other topics; the responses indicate that readers prioritize certain issues over others.

Of the news stories that have dominated local coverage over the past year, readers have been most interested in or concerned about:

  • The acquisition of Estes Park Health by UCHealth – 67%
  • The impact of tourism on the local economy – 55.%
  • Increasing options for workforce housing – 54%
  • The administrative problems at the Estes Valley Fire Protection District – 46%  
  • The impact of the federal government shutdown on RMNP and the local economy – 42%
  • Regulating short-term rentals – 34%
  • Increasing options for childcare – 19%  

Demographics

Seventy-seven percent of the people who took our 2025 readers survey are 60 years old or older, and 65% of respondents were women. That tells us several things, which also align with national demographics about news consumption. According to the Pew Research Center, younger audiences, specifically those aged 18-29 (67%) and 30-49 (62%), are more inclined to listen to podcasts than those aged 50 and older.

Another national trend is that, in general, Americans follow the news less than they did 10 years ago. As of August 2025, 36% of U.S. adults report following the news all or most of the time, down from 51% in 2016. Older people follow the news far more than younger people.

Source/Pew Research Center: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Aug. 18-24, 2025.

In 2016, 75% of people 65 and older reported that they followed the news “all or most of the time.” In 2025, that has fallen by 13 points to 62%. Among people aged 18 to 29 in 2016, 27% reported following the news “all or most of the time.” Today, that percentage has dropped to 15 percent.

Eighty-one percent of the readers who took the EVV survey live in the Estes Valley full-time, and 15% live here part-time. Seventy-eight percent live with a spouse or partner, and 47% are retired.

One of our questions asked: “The news is what someone does not want you to report; everything else is just public relations,” is a famous quote attributed to George Orwe l. Should local news report difficult stories, or should the local news just report on easy, happy stories?”

The response was overwhelming – 98% said “Local news should tackle difficult community stories, especially when it deals with government offices and issues of transparency and public accountability.”