Publishers Note | January 2025

The very first one, called The Goldmine, Aug. 2000.

Gulp, there is no way I’m old enough to have run a local news magazine for 25 years. It truly feels like yesterday that I was bartending at night to support the little yellow flyer that would become Yellow Scene Magazine.

Over the past 25 years, we’ve survived 9/11, the Great Recession, three wars, one flood, one fire, COVID-19, countless protests, and the arrival of digital media. Next up? Surviving DJT’s second term.

As much as I genuinely love my work, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to the frustrations that come with producing authentic journalism—especially in a time when AI seems to be taking over.

I’m incredibly proud that YS has never published a single sponsored-content (pay-for-play) article and that we’ve earned over 190 awards for excellence in journalism and design. In fact I have very strong feelings on it.

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But this gig is hard. So hard that universities now nearly require journalism students to pursue a second field of study alongside their journalism degrees.

Media outlets producing authentic journalism are facing significant challenges nationwide. Since 2004, the United States has lost approximately 2,100 newspapers, including 70 dailies and more than 2,000 weeklies or nondailies. The number of journalists working at local newspaper organizations has fallen by roughly 60% since 2005, declining to 31,400.

Death of the Daily News

The fact YS is still publishing while not selling sponsored content is a bit of a miracle in and of itself. However, instead of wallowing in the many difficult changes journalism is facing, YS is taking steps to keep local journalism sustainable through grants, crowdsourcing, events, and, of course, providing agency-quality advertising to our clients.

Youth caught reading in the wild, Lucky’s Market, Boulder

Surprisingly, this younger generation cares deeply about authenticity. They grew up with phones in their hands and crave more than just a digital life. Research shows their social media consumption focuses on platforms like YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok. But are they really online more than their older peers? Studies show older adults spend 5–6 hours on screens daily, while youth spend 6–7 hours.

While reading books has dropped by five percentage points among younger people, book sales revenue is actually higher today than in 2008. Nearly 87% of books sold are still in print—people want to escape the screen. Numerous studies show we retain 7x more information from print than digital. And honestly, people just get more excited seeing themselves in a printed magazine than on a website.

So here we are in 2025 with no plans to sell out the journalism, no plans to go only digital (we’re still printing 32,000 copies monthly, thank you!), and no plans to go away, no matter how hard it is today.

Over 25 years, YS has become a beloved community resource. One of the best compliments we hear is when folks say they only read YS and The Colorado Sun. That commitment to high standards shines through. We could print on a paper bag, and if the content is good, people would read it. (On the flip side, no matter how fancy the paper, a publisher can’t turn an advertorial into a compelling read.)

Today, YS produces far more online stories in addition to our monthly print publication. We’ve earned a reputation for taking on the tough stories others avoid. We’re also exploring what a podcast could look like and working toward more multimedia storytelling. But no matter the format, we’ll stay true to the standards that have guided us for 25 years.

Media literacy is a new term we all need to understand—readers and advertisers alike.

If you’re a business looking to advertise, before dismissing print as “dead” or relying solely on social media, consider how many places are competing for your audience’s attention. Then ask yourself why people seek out the new YS every month. There’s no magic formula for advertising—just consistency across all three stages of the purchase funnel: internal, direct, and mass media. A marketing budget of less than 3%? That’s Spray and Pray Marketing.

The most successful businesses—those owning both mindshare and market share—always include strategies across all stages of the funnel. My biggest advice? Study why you’re buying what you’re buying. Not all print is the same, and not all digital is the same. Advertising isn’t magic; it’s communication. The question is: What are you saying, and to whom? (That’s why we offer Yellow House Agency design and copywriting services—for free.)

For our readers, advertising is no longer the sole way we survive. It used to be, but the world has changed. To continue the serious work we do, we need your support too. We’ve launched our Sustaining Supporter Program, and for just $8/month, we’ll happily mail you YS every month.

We have an exciting lineup planned for our 25th year. We’re kicking off the year with a feature on 25 Businesses That Are 25 Years or Older. For Best of the West, we are doing special highlights of the organizations that have consistently won over the two-and-a-half decades YS has been around. We will be doing fun features like, ‘Where Are They Now?” where we interview people from the past. We are working on a Trivia Night and have a very special plan for the covers.

I’ll close with our original slogan, which remains just as true today: Yellow Scene Magazine: It’s the Good Stuff. And let me add—We ain’t going nowhere.

Just a few of the memories over the last 25 years

Like journalism like this? Consider becoming a sustaining supporter (and get our printed copy monthly at home.)
Democracy needs journalism more than ever. We’ve been telling the truth for 24 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four years.

Democracy needs journalism more than ever. We’ve been telling the truth for 24 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four years.