Letter From the Editor | May 2024

Many of you have read my name on articles for the past two years, and you may have even seen me listed as Managing Editor for the last year plus, but for most of you, I have never made a formal introduction. My name is Austin Clinkenbeard, and I have fully bought into Yellow Scene Magazine’s mission of true local journalism, compelling and relevant ideas, and the separation of editorial and advertising content. However, even over my few years here, I’ve seen massive changes across the publishing and journalistic landscape.

I started my writing career as a travel writer — focusing on food, culture, and history after being inspired by my travels abroad. I joined YS during election season a few years ago to help interview politicians, and I am finally putting my (up until then useless) political science degree to work!

The fact that YS not only still prints but that we distribute freely throughout the community and refuse any “pay-to-play” sponsored content puts us in a unique position. It doesn’t make us rich, but at least we can sleep at night knowing we aren’t selling out. An important task, considering we just learned we are one of two locally owned media platforms remaining in the county. Everything else that says Boulder in it is corporate-owned, a franchise or out-of-state. While that is tragic, we are proud to be still serving our community with authentic local journalism. Recently, we compiled a list of our top stories over two decades, and it was incredible to see how much YS has been a part of the community for so long.

Part of my mission as Managing Editor is continuing to expand our coverage of local politics. YS has always had our finger on the pulse, but sadly, we have seen a serious decline of local news coverage and reporting over the last two decades in Boulder County and the North Metro It is imperative that we continue to serve our community needs through online reporting while still providing the monthly print magazine we love. Which will do, regardless of how much is in the bank to pay for it.