• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, January 7, 2016

While it’s easy for marketers to get wrapped up in the fast-changing world of digital media, as The Boston Globe’s embarrassing home delivery woes recently highlighted, a lot of consumers still rely on traditional media, including print.

Roughly half of newspaper readers said they read only they print edition of their local newspaper, according to data cited by the Pew Research Center.

Pew surveyed consumers in three different midsized urban areas – Denver, Macon, Georgia, and Sioux City, Iowa – about their news consumption habits. Despite their geographic, social and economic differences, in each place a similar proportion of newspaper readers said they read only the print version of their local newspaper: 46% in Denver, 48% in Macon and 53% in Sioux City.

Pew found that print-only readers tended to be older, with a lower level of education and in a lower income bracket than newspaper readers who consume at least some digital content, although the relative proportions vary considerably by region.

In Denver, 39% have never been to college, compared to 17% of digital readers, while the respective figures are 59% and 48% in Macon and 52% and 41% in Sioux City. The proportion who have an income of under $30,000 a year was 28% among print-only readers in Denver, compared to 20% of digital readers; the respective figures were 53% and 44% in Macon and roughly even in Sioux City.

Turning to age cohorts, 26% of print-only readers in Denver were 65 or older, compared to 9% of digital readers. The respective figures were 27% and 9% in Macon, and 29% and 8% in Sioux City.

The overall figures, showing about half of readers consuming only print content, are roughly in line with a national survey that found 56% of readers have contact with only print newspaper content.