The Gala Was Grand! Celebrating 25 Years of Truth, Justice, and a Free Press

Illustrations and Design by Jackson Fojut

I’ve done a lot of fundraising over the years for nonprofits, campaigns, and causes I believed in. But this one’s different. This time, it’s for the work I’ve spent my life supporting.

My career came of age in a free press. I got my start in independent media at 21, on the advertising side, which was always enough to sustain the work we were doing. We never used to have to fundraise to be journalists.

For years, good journalism was funded by good advertising. That was the deal, and “Church and State” was gospel; the two should never marry. It worked until corporations swallowed up local media and that balance broke.

I am very proud of the work we produce for the community, which local businesses have sustained for 25 years. A huge thank-you to all the local organizations that have chosen Yellow Scene as a vital platform for reaching their neighbors. They understand that content is king; it’s what drives engagement and trust. For two and a half decades, Yellow Scene has delivered Boulder County & the North Metro directly to their doorsteps.

That’s what the Gala is about: not just raising funds, but raising hope. It’s the one night a year when we turn the hard work of journalism into joy, when readers, advertisers, and neighbors all share the same dance floor and remember why local stories matter.

Publisher’s Assistant Extraordinaire, Peter Constas. Photo by Dustin Doskocil, Dosko Photo.

The world has changed over the last 25 years. The common belief is that people don’t read because of digital disruption. I read an article once that called that lazy thinking. Besides, 86% of books are still sold on paper, and while Gen Z uses tech as much as the rest of us, they are more actively separating themselves from it. (See Peter Constas’ newest article, Confessions of a Digital Marketing Manager. He breaks down why, as a Gen Z, he left his digital marketing job for print).

Journalism didn’t die; hundreds of thousands still want to work in the field. It’s just that six major conglomerates own 85% of all media in the country. Today, Yellow Scene is the last and only locally owned, independent outlet serving all of Boulder County & the North Metro with authentic journalism.

I admire my peers at the Camera, who continue to show up and do the work despite operating under a hedge fund and with limited resources. They produce good work, and I love that together we can cover more stories in our shared backyard. We both know we need each other, and a piece of that was lost when the Boulder Weekly closed. I’m also grateful we still have KGNU, a vital source of local radio and community storytelling.

While I’m proud that Yellow Scene still adheres to old-school journalism principles and has never accepted any kind of pay-to-play content, we’re not swimming in resources either. Local advertising is no longer enough to sustain local journalism.

Digital saturation has us ignoring 87% of online advertising (while 50% of users rely on ad blockers), and more clients are realizing that social media alone isn’t enough to sustain a business. (After hosting plenty of events over the years, I can tell you social media alone is not enough to promote one).

People still read; they just need more platforms that recognize content is king. But journalism costs money, and sponsored content is free for outlets to publish. So we are left with a sea of “lifestyle” magazines filled with nothing but paid content.

Over the last 25 years, Yellow Scene has been free to pick up at newsstands, mailed free to homes, available online with no paywall, and free of influence on our journalism — and we intend to remain free. Through community support, we stay unapologetically unbought and unbossed. We’re hyper-local, rooted in Boulder County’s neighborhoods, small businesses, schools, and civic halls, because an informed community is a stronger community.

If we’ve got to fundraise to do journalism, we’re going to host a PARTY!

And this year’s party ROCKED THE HOUSE. The Pamlico Sound had the dance floor full all night. Guests came out dressed up, and for those who didn’t, we had glow necklaces, stick-on tattoos, feather boas, and even a few light-up bunny ears. But mostly, we danced the night away.

The Pamlico Sound, Oct 16th 2025, Yellow Scene 25th Anniversary Gala at The Louisville Underground

The Louisville Underground at TILT! proved to be the perfect venue, with guests flowing between the dance floor and the skee-ball lanes. We carried on the silver-and-gold theme; Peter in a shimmering silver turtleneck, me in a golden jumpsuit, and together we soaked in all the love.

We took the stage to thank everyone for their support and to reaffirm what the night represented: the power of truthful, local reporting. But mostly, we were there to party.

Magical Awakenings with Dan Liss offered tarot readings to curious party-goers, while Carnivale photo cutouts gave guests a chance to strike a pose and make memories. The Pamlico Sound is gearing up to release their new album Fun Key Van Gel Is Uhm and fundraises to keep their art alive. Jackson Fojut, our resident artist, created all of the designs for this year’s Gala, so that $8 a month helps support local artists as well.

We have a few choices today: sell out the journalism, quit, or fundraise. And since we’ve got an army of journalists who want to keep communities informed, we’re still selling ads, choosing fundraising — which is simply valuing the local news you get from your local platform — and making a few smart adjustments to keep Yellow Scene strong.

The first of those adjustments is that we’ll gradually begin to move our free home delivery to sustaining supporters. You can still pick us up in newsstands for free and find us online for free, but home delivery will begin to move to sustaining supporters. Eight dollars a month gets the printed copy delivered to your home and keeps local journalism in the community. We also know that readers retain seven times more information from print, and honestly, it’s a damn, nice, escape from the screen.

We’re honored to once again be part of the Colorado Media Project’s end-of-year Matching Grant, which kicks off on November 1, 2025. Through December 31, your support goes twice as far during this year’s #LocalNewsIsAPublicGood campaign. All donations are tax-deductible, including sustaining supporter contributions.

This means your $8 monthly contribution counts as $96 during the matching period. Our goal is $5,000, which comes down to just 52 new sustaining supporters — a small number with a big impact on keeping Yellow Scene independent, unbought, and unbossed.

Become a sustaining supporter at yellowscene.com/support or contribute through Colorado Gives at coloradogives.org/story/YellowScene

The room was filled with community: readers of Yellow Scene, supporters, local business owners, even elected officials, but all fans of authentic, local reporting. Most of all, the room was filled with love and a lot of dancing. That’s the point of the Gala, and of everything we do: to remind ourselves and our community that truth still has a dance floor.