Independent Journalism Starts With Independent Support

For 26 years, Yellow Scene has remained fiercely independent.

As Boulder County and the North Metro’s only independent, locally owned news platform, we have asked difficult questions, fact-checked powerful institutions, and covered the stories shaping our communities.

Because journalism matters. Whether the story is unfolding in Washington or at your local Town Hall.

Yellow Scene remains free from quid pro quo, free from corporate ownership, and free from outside boards shaping editorial direction. We answer to our readers. That independence matters now more than ever.

But independence is not free.

Reader-driven support keeps local journalism unbought and unbossed, and our journalists fed.

Our goal is ambitious: 1,000 Sustaining Supporters by the end of summer.

Monthly support of $8, $80, $800, or $8 million gets Yellow Scene delivered to your home and strengthens independent, local journalism.

The first 50 new Sustaining Supporters will receive either a complimentary pint from Cellar West Brewery or a free pass to The Spot.

Producing honest journalism has never been easy. But keeping it independent is worth protecting.

If Yellow Scene has informed you, challenged you, made you think, or helped you better understand your community, we hope you’ll stand with us. Become a supporter today.

Journalism That Answers to Readers

The post 2026 Summer Support Drive | Journalism That Answers to Readers appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

This piece is part of Yellow Scene Magazine’s Opinion section. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent a reported news position. At Yellow Scene, opinion pieces speak freely, challenge assumptions, and say the quiet parts out loud.

My answer to that question is YES. Yesterday, I had a local farm tell me they don’t pay for advertising except Meta. I see local shops boosting posts and paying for ads on Meta every day.

Daggers in the heart, that one stings.

Money leaves the community when it flows upward into platforms that have no stake in the survival of local economies.

Journalism didn’t die. It’s been taken over by large and powerful forces who know that when you control the airwaves, you control the policies. Over my 40 years in media, I watched journalism slowly stop being treated as a public good and start being treated like a mechanism of control. What we are seeing now with Project 2025 didn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere. The consolidation of media, attacks on education, weakening of anti-trust laws, and concentration of wealth have been building for decades.

They have had a pretty successful run. Today, most major media is controlled by six mega conglomerates with enormous billionaire influence. Schools have been defunded, anti-trust laws weakened, and we are now watching concentrated power reshape democratic institutions themselves.

Yet people still read and want high-touch experiences in their lives. Eighty-five percent of books sold are in print, and local bookstores are a rapidly growing market. Zines are in, and the analog wellness revolution is taking place.

At Yellow Scene, we use social media too. We post the articles we have published in print and online. Communities absolutely form there. But over the years we learned something important: likes don’t equal recall, and advertising metrics are often mistaken for meaningful engagement. We stopped boosting three years ago and have better engagement on stories now than before. That may be why print books, zines, local bookstores, record stores, and other human-scale experiences are resurging.

Even many successful streamers and independent news voices are proving the same point. Audiences still spend hours engaging with longform conversations, reporting, podcasts, interviews, books, and communities they trust. Social media often acts more like the messenger than the destination itself. The good ones are not succeeding because people suddenly love advertising interruptions or shallow engagement. In fact, 51% of audiences actively pay to avoid digital ads, with reports showing 93% now ignoring them altogether. Independent streamers succeed because people intentionally seek them out, trust their perspectives, and feel their time is being respected.

People did not stop consuming meaningful media. They stopped trusting media that stopped respecting them.

I recently interviewed a college intern who told me they got rid of their smartphone, switched to a flip phone, and eliminated social media entirely. Apparently, this isn’t unusual anymore.

Maybe there is just too much tech now to sort through it all?

It’s true most of us are not getting rid of our smartphones, computers, or Alexa, but what people need, since the beginning of humanity, is connection. They are finding that inside local bookstores, local farms, local music venues, and yes, local print journalism, when it offers something worth reading.

Yellow Scene’s Best of the West is just one example of authentic journalism, free from influence, while still writing about local businesses.

I do not think you will find a bigger advocate for shopping locally than the last and only locally owned news media platform serving all of Boulder County. Most other media platforms are now hedge fund-owned, corporate-owned, or franchise-operated.

We do have all the recent news nonprofit platforms starting up, some strong, but many are constrained by donor expectations to remain apolitical and nonpolarizing, avoiding the deeper “why” behind the stories.

We promote shopping local hard because we believe committing to circular economies is how we all survive the corporatization of everything by the billionaire class. Today, 75% of veterinarians and dentists are corporate-owned. This is happening to all industries, from auto repair to landscaping. Half of American homes are now owned by corporations. It used to be that 70% of businesses in America were sole proprietorships or small businesses. Today, it is down to 50%.

Local economies don’t survive on transactions alone. They survive on trust, shared information, accountability, and public participation. Local journalism is part of that infrastructure too.

At Yellow Scene, we resist that takeover.

Our press remains free. With a long 40-year career in media, I did not used to have to explain that we don’t accept quid pro quo. I did indeed drink the Seymour Hersh Kool-Aid that journalism matters. Not only are we the last locally owned publication, but we are also one of the few that do not accept sponsored content. Sponsored content is paid articles. In the old days, they said PAID ADVERTISEMENT on them, but not anymore. They are simply published as if they are independent journalism. Most people figure it out, though. When you have a full-page story on an insurance broker, it becomes obvious. Where it hits the slippery slope is when political organizations buy it while it’s presented as an actual article.

I won’t do it. I will quit before I do. I am committed to local journalism more than ever, even if it is not the pathway to riches. I think we have a lot more in common with our small local businesses than giant behemoths.

Sponsored content is a disservice to everyone, and I can’t believe after 40 years that this is what I am fighting. Not who does the better journalism, but who is still doing actual journalism. I’ve been doing this too long to spend my time putting out advertorials just to survive. We are focused on making something people actually want to read and, critically, coverage that is free of monetary influence.

That does not mean advertising itself is evil. It’s only evil if you do evil things with it. But there should be a clear line between what is editorial coverage and what is advertising, and respect should be given when people say they do not want advertising tracking them everywhere they go.

We happily help local businesses design advertisements that tell their stories in authentic and creative ways. One of the benefits of print is that advertisements exist alongside the reading experience instead of constantly interrupting it. Readers know what an ad is, and good ads can still add personality, discovery, and texture to the pages. Local businesses help make up our local community, and people often appreciate their print ads. The good streamers and independent media voices understand this too. They keep advertising separate from their coverage, or their audiences support them directly so they do not have to rely heavily on ads at all.

Do local businesses and organizations get coverage in Yellow Scene? All the time, but not for money.

We think the work local-owned shops are doing is important too. If people want to fight back against the corporate takeover of everything, shop local.

But to provide a free press, we still have to pay our writers, artists, printers, mailing costs, and drivers to produce, print, distribute, and deliver 25,000 copies filled with award-winning journalism. We understand our local organizations’ plight, as we operate on slim margins too.

Maybe Meta is less the problem than the symptom of a very confusing advertising world. For the last 20 years, small businesses have been told print was dead, digital was the future, and journalism was going by the wayside. Somewhere along the line, likes and analytics became mistaken for meaningful engagement.

But journalism will never die. There will always be truth tellers in this world. Sometimes people just want to sit down and read something worth their time, and that they can trust.

If communities want independent journalism free from corporate or political influence, they have to participate in the same circular economy they advocate for when they say “shop local.”

People are searching for real connection more than ever in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, corporate consolidation, and manufactured engagement.

In today’s corporate world, finding true, honest journalism is getting harder, and that includes local news, too. From corporate takeovers to the nonprofit industry, finding reporters willing to ask the hard questions seems like a thing of the past.

Which is why Yellow Scene remains fiercely independent and never, ever accepts quid pro quo. We are only beholden to our readers, not funders.

The truth is, we really cannot do this without you. If you value our journalism, become a sustaining supporter for $8 a month. Your support keeps honest reporting alive and gets the hard copy delivered to your home.

The post Is local media part of the circular economy eco-system? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

This piece is part of Yellow Scene Magazine’s Opinion section. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent a reported news position. At Yellow Scene, opinion pieces speak freely, challenge assumptions, and say the quiet parts out loud.

I love you. I really do. And I say that with all sincerity. Nobody champions local more than we do. We believe it is as close to a circular economy as we can get. We believe small businesses aren’t trying to bribe their elected officials. And we believe if you want to BDS, there is an easy fix: shop local.

I often joke that no one in their right mind stays in local journalism. I am a dynamo salesperson, an elite, a rainmaker. I could have left the field to make more money, but I didn’t. And the reasons have only compounded the longer I stay in local journalism and observe our world.

I got my first media job at the age of 21 and fell in love. I got my start in the sales department as an art college dropout. With zero training, knowledge, or experience, I landed a position where they gave me all the leads that never advertised and told me if I could sell them, I could keep my job.

So 21-year-old me, happy-go-lucky and extremely ADHD (I like to spell it Adhhhd), walks into the door of my first lead with the Christmas Guide I was supposed to sell. Promptly, the lady tells me to bugger off—she doesn’t want any.

Not knowing how the industry worked, obviously, I didn’t know what to say or do. So I went home and hand-sketched an idea for her. It was clever and funny, and different. Now, in hindsight, I am grateful I didn’t know that my industry didn’t help you with these things. So I carefully worked the concept out, even hand-lettering it.

Taking it back the next day, I told her I had an idea and held it up for her to see. She proclaimed no one had ever done something like that for her. She liked it, and she bought it. I fell in love. The idea that I could use my art skills to help hard-working business owners was deeply enriching. My career was born.

At this crossroads in America’s history, each of us has a decision to make about who we are supporting and why.

I have always worked in independent media. I was shaped by some brilliant journalists who poured the Kool-Aid down my throat: the 4th estate, the watchdogs, and the idea that democracy needs a free press.

Attorney Matt Simonsen (left) presents Yellow Scene’s argument to Court of Appeals judges (left to right) Stephanie Dunn, Gilbert Román and Craig Welling. (Credit: John Eisele, Colorado State University)

Recently, Yellow Scene appeared at a Court of Appeals hearing in Fort Collins at CSU in our case with the City of Boulder over police transparency. It’s a big deal and could set a state precedent. It’s also scary. But I am proud that we did it, as holding truth to power really does matter to us.

Corporatization is not just impacting journalism. Today roughly 90% of news media is owned by just a small handful of conglomerates. With the Ellisons expanding their control over more major media platforms, the ownership pool has shrunk even smaller. There is no doubt corporatization has had negative impacts on the United States’ democratic process, influencing policies that enrich a small few while consolidating power.

Corporatization is also coming for small business. Today, roughly 70% of vets and dentists are owned by corporate conglomerates. Other industries are seeing this as well—from mechanics and daycare centers to food sources, banks, and medical practices—all being gobbled up and consolidated.

Yet roughly 50% of businesses in America are still owned by a sole proprietor, a number that has declined 20% or more over the past two decades. It is a wonder we have them left, and we should be doing everything we can to protect them.

Downtown Louisville, CO

This is true for local business choices as well. As the last and only locally owned, independent news platform left serving all of Boulder County, you can imagine our frustration when we see our small business owners handing their advertising dollars to Meta.

I love our small business owners, but most are not masters of marketing. Too often it’s treated like the red-headed stepchild. I see folks jump from one shiny bandwagon to the next with less than 1% allocated to marketing, treating it like an expense instead of an investment, with messages that are dry, boring, and cookie-cutter, only to hear them say, “advertising doesn’t work.”

They are right. When approached that way, it doesn’t work. That is why we provide our Marketing Guidebook and Growth Objective Calculator, to help with crafting a strategy. It is also why we offer agency-quality copywriting and design, so the message has meaning instead of just telling people they exist.

But uttering the tired old line “print is dead” is lazy thinking as well. That was a sales pitch from the tech bros to convince business owners to give them all their money. Funny thing: 25 years after the tech revolution, we are so saturated that people are paying not to see online ads, and if they don’t, 86% have “banner blindness.”

Until AI starts spending money in the marketplace, we still need humans. Hopefully, we want a society where all humans can thrive, not just survive.

There is a reason we never gave up print. First, we didn’t buy that print was dead. Book sales only decreased for a few years, and it was about a 5% decrease. Today, books are on the rise. Additionally, e-books only capture about 15% of the sales.

Why would people prefer print over digital? Lots of reasons, but let’s start with the fact that human beings need connections. That is a biological fact. In fact, the more digital that is thrown at us, the more people burn out on it and start to seek authentic connections. Also, fun fact: we retain 7x more information from print than digital, so give your kids books—not tablets.

Yes, we have lots of online coverage, and our website is seen even more than our social media. But we have also learned that a surefire way to have a failed event is to only rely on social media. It takes nothing to like something and move on.

Yellow Scene has been committed to producing authentic journalism since we started. We are very proud of the stories we cover for the community on shoestring budgets. We could have more money if we accepted “sponsored content,” something a vast majority of platforms have taken to publishing. We won’t.

I am sorry, but a story about a realtor or insurance salesperson isn’t a feature. It’s called vanity marketing for a reason. It’s a disservice to democracy, to the advertiser, and to the reader.

And frankly, readers don’t go home on Friday night and watch infomercials. They watch well-produced shows. I can hear the conversations: “Hey, have you seen the latest infomercial? It’s got me on the edge of my seat!”

That’s exactly why we’ve never accepted pay-to-play articles at Yellow Scene. We have never taken money to write about any subject. Our calendar is free, press releases are free, and our journalists are free from influence. So if we wrote about you, it is because you had a story to share. Yellow Scene truly is your authentic local free press.

I have been in journalism my entire life; I am not going to start doing quid pro quo now. The struggles we face aren’t from not being able to get readers. We have a 97% pickup rate in stands and 75,000–100,000 views a month on the website.

After 25 years sustained by advertising, part of our work is helping small businesses understand that content is king, that local media serves the local community, that the latest fad is just that—a fad, and that we would rather help them craft strategies that incorporate a full-funnel approach. We work our asses off for our small businesses and love doing so.

But it sure would be nice if they stopped jumping on bandwagons and giving their money to all the tech-lords.

I started this work as a 21-year-old art school dropout, sketching ideas for small businesses. Four decades later, I still believe the same thing: when local businesses and local media support each other, communities thrive, and yes, people still read.

In the meantime, to remain truly free from corporate influence, we are moving to a sustaining supporter model. Yes, similar to NPR. In today’s world of corporate consolidation, advertising alone is no longer enough, and we have no interest in answering to a board. Being reader-supported means the only people we answer to are our community.

Whether you are a small business owner or a reader, if you value having one locally-owned platform committed to journalism standards in your backyard, supporting local media is a meaningful way to participate in local democracy.

Just $8 a month gets it delivered to your house and helps keep local journalism thriving.

And for the local business owners I care so much about, local media reaches the local community with more impact and for far less than digital advertising.

The post An Open Letter to Our Local Community, Including the Local Businesses That Serve It appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

When I graduated from CSU with a degree in Journalism, I was ready to fight the man.

However, I was required to take only a few newswriting and journalism classes; my schedule was filled with content creation, web design and SEO. I understand why. My instructors had a duty to offer their undergrads a future, and journalism looked bleak due to corporatization, so these other courses were pushed. 

While working my way through college as a cook, I knew I wanted more. I loved cooking because I loved being of service, but I wanted to have a bigger impact on my community.

Armed with my university experience, I dived into the marketplace with one thing on my mind: “How am I going to help people and solve problems?”

The #1 problem I came across was marketing, specifically digital marketing.

I’m 26 now, which means I grew up with YouTubers rising from obscurity to millionaires, Blockbuster shuttering its doors, and Netflix still mailing discs. Every place that hired me wanted more “me’s.” They wanted cool looking Zillenials engaging with their brand, and believed I was the one to bring them. They also believed the only thing people my age did was look at their phones. 

All I had to do was entice people to like me. Easy right? I started promoting all the socials, building demographic models to target, and crafting digital strategies. We had a sizable marketing budget, and I was given the authority to do what I thought would work best. And then came the dreaded marketing meetings…

I would wake up in the middle of the night, feeling sick before going to work, and damn-near crying before I opened the door to the conference room. You can always make a graph look good —move the data just enough to make it look like you were doing a good job, use pretty colors to distract from the abysmal performance —but that wasn’t me. I was there to solve problems.

This is how a usual meeting would go: “We got 50,000 impressions targeting 25-40 year olds residing in Boulder County. From those 50,000 impressions, we got 100 clicks. From those 100 clicks, we got 20 unique visitors. And now, from those 20 unique visitors, we got 4 conversions. That has resulted in 1 sale, leaving those other 3 conversions in the checkout.” Marketing meetings became public flagellations.

That’s one of the reasons I left digital marketing. All the strategies I was taught, along with all the tools I knew how to use, still didn’t solve any problems for the people I was supposed to be helping. In fact, I often felt I was ripping them off.

With the resurgence of vinyl records, romance novels, and… Funko Pops it’s clear my generation has no desire for digital real estate (remember the metaverse? NFTs?) We have been drowning in digital saturation since we were born. With our understanding of how social media affects mental health there has been a huge shift to more ‘traditional’ technologies from flip phones to record players.

Ever since Snowden blew the whistle on how the NSA and online businesses are spying on us, I have taken measures to not be trackable. I take great pride in how Google sees me due to my online habits. I get ads for mobile games that are definitely geared towards toddlers; I get ads to vote Democratic and Republican; and I get ads for menopause and ED medication. If my online presence were a dating profile, it would have 0% compatibility.

We are human. We are not just like you, but we are not that different. We both mute the TV when ads start playing. We are not happy about having to settle for a subscription with ads. We are not data points. 

Like everyone else, my generation values authenticity, but we’ll settle for entertainment. My boss uses this quote when talking about establishing your position in the marketplace: “Be there first. If you can’t, find a niche. Neither of the first two matters if no one has heard of you.”

The Confession: Why I left Digital for Print

1. I graduated with a degree in Jargon. 

It pains me to say this, but other than the copywriting, I could have gained all my skills from YouTube videos instead of going to college. Instead, I was taught jargon. Whenever you hear someone say “KPIs, Conversion Rates, PPC Sales,” or “SEM” — run. Every time I thought I was losing a job interview, I would use one of these terms and have the interviewer back on my side. 

One of the misguided lines I heard recently is, “You know the Purchase Funnel is dead, right?” I’ve seen every kind of shape used to describe the psychology of the buyer, from triangles to pentagrams. If your marketing person can’t explain marketing in layman’s terms, fire them.

2. Audience vs. Demographics

The common misconception about digital marketing is that it is mass media. The difference is that digital marketing relies on a demographic while mass media relies on an audience. Yellow Scene Magazine, for example, has curated a strong audience of Boulder County residents because we publish content that people in Boulder County want to engage with. A demographic is a selection of people who engage with certain content. Instead of advertising where the eyeballs are, digital marketing advertises where the eyeballs hope them to be. 

Digital marketing is perfect for accomplishing a few certain tasks. You should be good enough with SEO that you are on the first page of search results (although, truth be told, it doesn’t matter if you’re the first one anymore). With sponsored listings and AI distractions, most clicks usually end up at the third or fourth listing. However, when businesses only use digital to fulfill their direct and mass media marketing, they are shrinking their Purchase Funnel. Those 50,000 impressions to two or three clicks are more of a sieve than a funnel. 

Saying the Purchase Funnel is dead is ridiculous because it’s introductory human psychology. Have we got your Attention and Interest? Because I know you won’t make a Decision to Act without those. Mass media influences the later stages of the buying process. Direct Marketing (like digital) influences as they are ready to buy, and your own business is what keeps them coming back. Maybe the term for the Purchase Funnel is some clever new tech jargon, but people are still people. The principle is the same.

3. Praise be to the glorious Purchase Funnel!

Marketing is a communication tool, not magic.  It is only evil if you do evil things with it.

However, the biggest thing I have learned is the omnipresence of the purchase funnel, much like the Golden Ratio or the 80/20 Rule. These are mathematical formulas that describe consistent behavior that are backed by centuries of research. Humans have been trying to crack our brains to see what makes us tick since our inception. Now we have a pretty good summation of what makes humans decide. 

It takes millions of years for a species to evolve. My generation does not have any different brain capacity than my Boomer counterparts, which means while our preferences may differ, our psychology does not.

I remember on my first day here at YS, my publisher showed me a scene from the movie Glenn, Gary, Glenn Ross. “A! I! D! A! Attention! Interest! Decision! Action!” Alec Baldwin shouts. 

If someone is straying from these four principles, they are trying to TRICK YOU. I’m not being facetious. There are people out there who are happy to take your money while you shout into a black hole, and I used to be one of them.

Why I Chose Print: 

I think digital marketing has a place, but far too many are doing evil things with it, and frankly, there is just way too much of it for anyone to pay attention to. Social Media is a useful tool for reaching your existing clientele. It’s a way to show appreciation for those who bothered to follow you. And if you have all the business you need from Google, there is no point in advertising. But most don’t, and print has a power that digital does not. 

A Berkeley study shows that we retain seven times as much information from print as from digital. It’s a nice break from the screen (when it’s interesting). It has the power to inform, change minds, and showcase the community. I also don’t have to jump through hoops to make sure I am not being tracked. Digital can do this as well; however, with the invention of algorithms and digital echo chambers, people find what they want to see. That makes it much harder to cut through the noise and reach the customer. Print forces the audience to slow down and consume, instead of constantly changing the channel. And a funny thing, we trust what we see in print 90% more than online.

I chose a platform that does authentic journalism and still prints so that I could sleep at night. I feel great pride in the authentic service we provide to the community, which includes local businesses. KPIs like clicks, scrolls, and conversions give us dopamine, but they rarely lead to results. Don’t be fooled by the instant gratification; if you want a long-term business, you need a long-term strategy.

I also know I am too young to “know-it-all,” but my tenure at Yellow Scene lets me at least say that I’m a problem solver, not a jargon-talking, hipster here to grift anyone.

#LocalJournalismIsAPublicGood Become a sustaining supporter and keep local, independent journalism strong.

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.

The post Confessions of a Digital Marketing Manager appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Education and Regulation

On Monday, I dropped my four-year-old off for the first day of school. Now in his second year of Colorado’s state-funded Universal Pre-K (UPK) program, he was greeted enthusiastically by his teacher and paraprofessionals before letting go of my hand and running inside—excited for three hours of learning and play with his friends.

The classroom felt warm and alive, with sensory bins, age-appropriate games and toys, quiet corners for decompression, and handmade decorations curated for her unique classroom. Every detail was carefully selected to create a sense of safety and belonging. As a parent, I could walk away knowing my son would be cared for.

But beneath their dedication and resilience, teachers are drowning. They are underpaid, under-resourced, and expected to give endlessly while receiving less every year. They spend their own money to stock classrooms. Cuts to substitute pay mean they can’t take a sick day without guilt and are often asked to forgo any personal leave. Class sizes grow, resources vanish, and burnout is a high risk.

This is not the fault of individual schools or even the Boulder Valley School District. It’s the direct result of Colorado’s “Negative Factor” loophole, which allows lawmakers to raid education funding to cover other priorities. The result: BVSD has been robbed of more than $1 billion.

And the attacks on education don’t stop at the state level. Nationally, Donald Trump has openly sought to dismantle the Department of Education, threatening federal funding that public schools rely on. If he succeeds, schools will close, teachers will leave the profession, and vulnerable students will be left behind.

He’s already shown his playbook. As president, Trump gutted the Department of Public Broadcasting—an intentional strike against independent journalism and cultural criticism he dismissed as “political bias.” In Colorado, the danger is already here: Nexstar, the parent company of Fox affiliates in Denver and Colorado Springs, has just acquired Tegna, the owner of 9News. Soon, Denver’s most trusted news source could be folded into a conservative media empire with 265 stations across 44 states. 9News, known for its investigative work, uncovering political shortcomings at a state level, is at great risk of losing its power in this takeover. Kyle Clark, an investigative journalist with 9News, gives a great explanation of how this takeover will lead to a monopoly of information regulation.

Education and media are linked. They are the two greatest tools we have to create an informed, empowered public—and the two institutions most under attack. Control what children learn, control what the public hears, and you control the narrative. That’s not democracy; that’s propaganda. On August 19, Trump even ordered an investigation into Smithsonian museums, complaining they placed “too much focus on how bad slavery was.” The goal is crystal clear: erase truth, erase history, and rewrite reality.

This issue of Yellow Scene is about resistance. We highlight the extraordinary educators who continue to show up every day as the system collapses around them. We celebrate our Colorado Press Association awards, proof that independent media still has power. And we name the threats: the billion-dollar theft from our schools, the consolidation of media into conservative empires, the political project of silencing truth.

Yellow Scene will not be silenced. We will not “balance” facts with lies. We will fight for education, for media, and for democracy itself. And we hope you’ll fight with us.

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.

The post Editor’s Note | August 2025 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

How to take part in the good fight

Helpless. That is how many feel as the world continues to turn while seemingly on fire. While money may be the most significant player in the fight, the individual can make a difference. Impact can be done through the donation of time, money, or the written word. Even a few minutes a day can help protect the vulnerable populations who are under attack from the current administration.

Volunteer for immigrant rights

The current administration has made it a mission to “reduce and control” immigration. This means hard-working individuals are getting taken without warning, being dragged away from their families, homes, and lives without much hope of being able to return.

The Colorado Coalition for Immigrant Rights, located in Denver, is seeking volunteers. Anyone with any skills, from cold calling to providing legal help, can sign up to help out.

Photo credit: Linda O’Neill, Social Media

Protest to fight against fascism

The man getting you down? By which I mean, the one(s) who have decided that the nation is a platform for narcissism, choosing to prioritize ego over we, the people. Join the Tesla Takedown every Saturday at Tesla dealerships everywhere. Text MUSK to 51905 to join the fight!

Photo credit: Alexander Grey, Unsplash

Write a letter to defend gender-affirming care

Rep. Margarie Taylor Green is pushing to promote a bill that would criminalize physicians providing gender-affirming care. This bill will be going to a vote in the House of Representatives.

You can write to your state representative asking them to vote no on H.R. 3492.

Donate to protect reproductive rights

Access to abortion is legal and currently protected in Colorado. This means it is a safe-place for patients to travel to receive care. However, this is a financial burden to reproductive health care facilities. Donating to Planned Parenthood of the Rockies can help provide care to patients who are not able to afford it, especially after traveling over state lines.

Preserve the National Parks

Not only is it important to protect wild spaces for the diverse ecosystems and enjoyment of future generations, but cutting funding has led to 24% of the Park Service employees losing their jobs. The National Parks Conservation Association recommends writing a letter to Congress, asking to vote against additional budgets that are impacting the parks.

The post Editor’s Picks | June-July 2025 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

This month, I was tasked with Notables—and this year, the focus has been on celebrating Yellow Scene’s 25 years in Boulder County media. From Top 25 Articles to “Where Are They Now?” features, this month I’m highlighting 25 of my favorite covers. And like the others, narrowing this list down wasn’t easy. Each comes with a story—some joyful, some complicated—but all meaningful.

Print is still magic. I watched two kids flipping through Yellow Scene, giggling and pointing out places they recognized. That doesn’t happen with a phone.

Not all 25 years of covers are on the website. The first eight years live in hard copies, CD-ROMs, and Zip drives in my basement. I was literally taking photos of old issues with my phone—because who still owns a CD-ROM drive?

YS has always been collaborative. The creativity behind these covers isn’t just mine—it’s the product of dozens of staff members over the years. Designers, writers, editors, photographers, illustrators, and interns have brought wild ideas to life and made them sing. I’ve had amazing teams pitch me ideas—some I thought were weird but turned out great. That kind of teamwork has defined our pages from the beginning. Editorial content always came first; our goal has been to make every page worth reading.

As I revisited the covers, the memories came rushing back. Sometimes I just liked the art, but most often it was the stories behind them. The greatest feeling I get is thinking about the people who made them. I’ve been lucky to work with inspired, creative minds who wanted to build something special.

When I left Boulder Weekly, clients started calling: “Where did you go?” Erie was exploding—4,000 new homes by 2000. I hadn’t planned to launch anything, but they encouraged me. I sold ads with no product, then figured it out.

The first issues were called The Gold Mine—local ads, local reach, and Easter eggs for fun. By edition four, we had content, a real name, and a growing following. We officially incorporated in February 2001 as Yellow Scene Magazine. We were Reader’s Digest-sized and called ourselves “East County’s cultural scene,” which some Boulder folks laughed at: “Do you have culture out there?” And I’d smile and think, yes—more than you know.

Fun fact: We’ve never put the Flatirons on a cover. Someone once called that a weird flex—but to me, it says a lot. They’re on everything. I wanted to reflect the people, the culture, the values—not just the scenery.

Early on, there was controversy. By issue three, I published letters to the editor that stirred things up. It was my first taste of being a publisher. Then came 9/11. And with it, a choice: what kind of media would we be? We chose bold. Our anti-war stance during Iraq got us letters and boycott threats—but I knew we were right.

The press is mightier than the sword. Yellow Scene has never shied away from the hard stuff. We follow the truth, and the creativity. 

THE COVERS

August 2000: The Gold Mine

June 2004: The Hot Issue

August 2007: The Smart Issue

August 2000: The Gold Mine

Our very first issue—and definitely our funkiest. Not the most beautiful, but it belongs here. Art by Shavonne Blades.

June 2004: The HOT Issue

We featured Left Hand Brewery with a local artist’s painting. Illustration Art: DeWayne Wolff (Longmont).

August 2007: The SMART Issue

One of my favorites—my son was our child model in the early years. Art Director Stephanie Mott crafted a brilliant concept from the shoot. Photography by Jessica Grenier (Denver).

February 2009: One Giant Food Issue

June 2009: The Hot Issue

July 2009: The Glasshouse of Boulder

February 2009

A fun, pivotal issue. This marked our expansion into Boulder. Until then, we were only in East County/North Metro. After the 2008 crash, I borrowed $80,000—the first time ever—to go big: perfect-bound, 100 pages, full gloss. It worked. Art Director: Stephanie Mott. Photography: Ed Corcoran (Golden).

June 2009: The HOT Issue

This was one of those wild staff ideas I almost said no to—a Harlequin romance parody. It turned out amazing. Art Director: Stephanie Mott. Concept: Andra Coberly. Photography: Julie Levy (Boulder).

July 2009: The Glasshouse of Boulder

An architectural shoot inside a stunning home. Architect: Matt McMullen. Art Direction: Stephanie Mott. Photography: Jessica Grenier (Denver).

July 2011: The Hot Issue

March 2012: SuperKids Issue

April 2012: Best Of The West

July 2011: The HOT Issue

Stephanie Mott transitioned to Creative Consultant after this issue, and Brittany Wigham stepped in as Associate Art Director. She nailed this sizzling cover. Art Direction: Brittany Wigham.

March 2012: SuperKids Issue

“82 Ways to Spend a Summer Day” was born from an idea by Editor-in-Chief Andra Coberly. Art by Brittney Wigham, who always said: “In design, no detail is too small.”

April 2012: Best of the West

A Beatles “Abbey Road” homage with our staff in downtown Louisville. Brittney Wigham led the creative. Photography: Joe Hodgson (Denver).

December 2012: The 65+ Issue

June 2013: The Hot Issue

August 2013: The Smart Issue

December 2012: The 65+ Issue

Titled “The Silver Tsunami,” this cover highlighted the boomer wave of retirements. Some people didn’t love the bold image—but that’s exactly why I do. Art Direction: Brittney Wigham. Editor: Andra Coberly.

June 2013: The HOT Issue

I rejected the initial cover (ice cream, tilted sunglasses—too canned). We were down to the wire when I spotted a photo of Mona Lott, a drag queen from our Faces of Summer feature. “Can we put a drag queen on the cover?” the staff asked. Damn straight we can. Art: Brittney Wigham. Photo: Paul Wedlake.

August 2013: The SMART Issue

Michael Kennedy (aka Colonel Matlock) obsessed over every detail. There’s a flaw only he sees—and he still talks about it. I call it brilliant. 

December 2013: Health Issue

March 2014: SuperKids Issue

2015: Album Cover Series

December 2013: Health Issue

We spotlighted tattoo culture. Joe Friend shot the stunning visuals. Michael Kennedy brought it to life with graphic design. And yes, there’s a little surprise in the article.

March 2014: Super Kids Issue

We just re-featured this photo in 2025 for “Where Are They Now?” Paul Wedlake shot both the original and the update. Art: Brittney Wigham.

2015: Album Cover Series

An all-time staff favorite. Readers played along all year, guessing the inspiration behind each cover. My pick for Top 25? Sgt. Pepper’s. Editorial Concept: Brett Callwood. Art Direction: Trish Himmler & Katherine Preucill.

February 2017: Best Of The West – Find-A-Word

May 2017: The Hot Issue

August 2017: The Smart Issue

February 2017: Best of the West – Find-A-Word

We hid puzzles in this one and gave prizes for solving them. Readers loved it. Art Direction: Jennifer Ho.

May 2017: The HOT Issue

A hard moment—Brides and Babies closed that year. However, we stayed true to our values, and despite financial challenges, I commissioned this piece to honor Colorado’s music festival scene. Illustration: Brittany Henson.

August 2017: The SMART Issue

Commissioned art reflecting education funding challenges. Illustration: Christina Ullman.

February 2018: Best Of The West

September 2018: Indulgence Issue

March 2019: Divercity Series

February 2018: Best of the West

After the 2015 series, I wanted more themed covers. This one featured winners standing in front of the Boulder Theater (shoutout to them for putting us on the marquee!). Art: Irina Ratzek. Photography: Paul Wedlake.

September 2018: Indulgence Issue

Restaurant folks, a remote sugar mill road, a ladder, and a cop car. Yep, Longmont PD told us to move—but not before Paul got the shot. Art: Irina Ratzek. Photo: Paul Wedlake.

March 2019: DiverCity Series

A love letter to black-and-white print and typography. Every piece was text-forward. I chose Andrea Gibson for this list—an icon who just left us. Art Direction: Irina Ratzek, Photo: Paul Wedlake.

April 2020: 20th Anniversary Series

February 2021: The Actionist Series Featuring Candice Bailey

February 2022: Heroes Series – Firefighers

April 2020: 20th Anniversary Series

We planned to spotlight past and present staff—then COVID hit. We skipped March and folded what we could into April. The pandemic shaped every shoot after. Featured: Stephanie Mott. Photo: Paul Wedlake.

February 2021: The Actionist Series featuring Candice Bailey

It was hard to choose just one from this series—we featured amazing people, including former Colorado Poet Laureate Bobby LeFebre. But I chose Candice because I have the utmost admiration for her. Her bold spirit is exactly what this world needs. Art Direction: Irina Ratzek. Photography: Paul Wedlake.

February 2022: Heroes Series – Firefighters

Originally planned for nurses post-COVID, but after the Marshall Fire, we pivoted. The hoses in the photo? They’re the ones crews had to cut and abandon to escape the flames. Multiple departments were involved. Photo: Paul Wedlake.

April 2023: The History Series Featuring Erie, Colorado

April 2023: The History Series featuring Erie, Colorado

In 2023, we launched a series exploring the histories of the towns we serve across Boulder County and the North Metro. Beautifully written by Doug Geiling, the research and storytelling were fascinating. I chose Erie for this list because it’s my hometown—and the last standing mine in the area still sits there. Art Direction: Irina Ratzek. Photography: Paul Wedlake.

If you want to explore more then head over too yellowscene.com/archives

The post Our Top 25 Favorite Covers appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Several years ago, I reached out to Yellow Scene Magazine with a gut feeling that I wanted to try my hand at journalism. I didn’t have a master plan, just a hunger to write, to ask questions, and to feel connected to the world around me in a more meaningful way. They liked my writing sample enough to give me a shot. A few weeks later, I was deep in the neck of research and interviews for my first-ever reported story.

It was a big step, and a somewhat chaotic one. But it felt like coming home.

Now, I write this as Yellow Scene’s new Associate Editor at a time that feels just as chaotic, just as formative. We’re in a transitional moment: the magazine is undergoing a kind of internal reorganization and realignment, the kind that comes after 20+ years of publishing and evolving. Like many small, independent outlets, we’re trying to figure out how to keep doing what we do well in an increasingly hostile and complicated media environment. It’s also just a strange, charged time to be a journalist. Especially a local one. Especially one working in a state like Colorado, in a county like Boulder, where national politics and local life no longer feel separate. Where everything is both connected and overwhelming, and trying to distill that into something people can read, trust, and act on is no small task.

When we talk about threats to the press, we often picture the big players: CBS, The Washington Post, CNN. But crackdowns on media don’t just hit the coasts or the cable newsrooms, they ripple outward. Local publications, independent outlets, alt-weeklies, we feel it just as sharply, if not more. Whether it’s legal pressure, economic strain, or the anxiety of what kind of coverage might provoke backlash, the stakes are high. And for us, there’s no corporate safety net. We have our values, our team, and the faith of our readers.

That’s part of what makes this work both more meaningful and more difficult. We don’t just ask questions. We try to ask the right ones. We don’t just report what’s happening. We try to figure out what matters most, and why. And in a time when national headlines dominate the narrative, we double down on the local, not because it’s easier, but because it matters.

At Yellow Scene, we don’t just report what’s happening, we ask why, who it affects, and what needs to be done. We take positions. We believe journalism is at its best when it’s clear-eyed and unflinching. Our readers deserve that. They deserve to know what’s going on in their neighborhoods, in their schools, in their city halls, and to feel just a little more empowered because of it.

One of the things I hope for most is that Yellow Scene continues to be a voice for the people of Boulder County. That we keep showing up with consistency, grow in our reach and impact, and stay rooted in the communities we serve. After we published my story on dark money in public education, I was contacted by the Advocates for Public Education Policy group. They told me how much it meant to see issues that rarely get the spotlight named and taken seriously. A few days later, I joined one of their weekly meetings to answer questions about the research, connect, and listen. It was one of the clearest reminders I’ve had that this work makes a difference.

In the coming months, we’re experimenting with formats, with voices, with how we show up in print and online. That’s part of what it means to be independent: we’re nimble enough to change when we need to, stubborn enough to keep our core intact. We’ll try new things, and not all of them will be perfect. But we’ll keep showing up. We’ll keep asking better questions. And we’ll keep making space for the kinds of stories that don’t always get told, but should.

I’m especially excited to be working with our current team of writers, who are as diverse in experience as they are in voice. We’ve got seasoned journalists who’ve been writing for decades and know their way around a complicated lead. We’ve got writers fresh out of grad school, tackling big stories with sharp minds and open hearts. And we’ve got people who didn’t formally study journalism but whose talent and passion for writing, research, and truth-telling are undeniable. One of Yellow Scene’s greatest strengths is that we let writers develop their voices. We encourage well-sourced, deeply researched pieces. And we give space for people who care to show up and do the work.

Working for an independent magazine in 2025 is, if I’m being honest, not the most rational career move. But that’s kind of the point. Rationality doesn’t always lead to the most vital work. Passion does. Curiosity does. A belief that stories matter and that someone should still be willing to say the things no one else is saying. We’re not owned by a hedge fund. We’re not beholden to corporate interests. We answer to our readers, our mission, and our sense of what’s right.

This job is hard. But it’s also fun. Weirdly fun. Getting to work alongside people who are passionate, scrappy, principled, and a little chaotic, in the best way, is one of the great privileges of my life. I hope the stories we publish reflect that spirit. I hope they help you understand your neighbors, your communities, and your world just a little better. I hope they surprise you sometimes. And I hope they make you feel something.

Thanks for reading. We’ll keep going as long as we can.

— Destiny Hale

Like journalism like this? Support the local press that’s been telling the truth for 25 years. Become a sustaining member and get our monthly print edition at home. We’ve weathered 9/11, floods, fires, economic crashes—and some deeply chaotic years. With your support, we’ll keep going. Because democracy still depends on journalism.

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.

The post Editor’s Note | May 2025 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The process of going through all of our stories from the past 25 years of Yellow Scene Magazine (YS) to find the 25 stories best suited for a sort of “Where are they now?” segment proved to be a little more overwhelming than I expected. That’s even when you consider the fact that our first several years aren’t well documented on our website, with the earliest being 2007, which is itself incomplete, and all the rest of YS’ early years only exist in physical form, collecting dust somewhere in the home of our publisher and founder, Shavonne Blades. Even if you take away those years, that’s still a mountain of articles to go through.

While some were absolutely fascinating, did all of them reflect the time that had passed and demonstrate something significant that changed over time? In the past 25 years, our coverage area of East Boulder County and the surrounding metro area has gone through significant changes. So has Colorado as a whole. So has the country, with Colorado often along for the ride while the country has bounced from one right-wing extremist presidency, to eight years of Obama, to another right-wing extremist presidency. In fact, what I found was that seemingly insignificant stories look very different through the lens of history.

Take, for example, “Bare Necessities” — which we’ll count as the first of our 25 stories — a strange 2012 story about North Boulder nudist couple Bob and Cathy Pierce who attempted to sue the city for harassing them but found it difficult when Cathy tried to enter the county courthouse topless. The unusual story raised some interesting issues at the time about personal freedom and the ability of police to enforce laws they don’t understand, considering that baring breasts is actually legal in Boulder. We didn’t follow up on the Pierces afterwards — it’s hard to imagine that story having an interesting follow-up, but boy would you be wrong. The following year, the couple was arrested in Marblehead, Ohio after a waitress overheard what she thought was Bob threatening then-President Barack Obama. Bob insisted he was talking about killing Obama in a debate and that he wanted to go to Washington to set the politician straight. The Pierces once again made headlines in the Daily Camera in 2016 after Cathy was convicted of felony theft and criminal exploitation of an at-risk elder for allegedly tricking a 73-year-old, half-blind man into signing away his trailer home for $1.

While the Pierces’ sordid exploits weren’t something we wanted to make front page news, it demonstrates that almost every story, no matter how inconsequential it may seem at the time, could have an interesting follow-up if you take the time to look into it. So how could I narrow it down to just 25 stories that demonstrate the inevitable passage of time? In some ways, the articles I chose were somewhat arbitrary, as almost any article could have fit this piece. But I think I found a series of articles that truly do reflect the important changes in local history.

Fighting Words (2008)

Riding the blue wave that the 2008 election brought, Colorado’s first all-Democratic leadership in the legislature looked to use their newfound majority status to get affordable healthcare passed in the state, with one phrase on everyone’s lips: “single payer.” As the article pointed out, “single payer” is the other term for one of the most terrifying concepts in American politics: universal healthcare. Why it remains such a divisive issue when most other countries in the First World have long since instituted a single-payer healthcare system is somewhat of a mystery, but for whatever reason, there’s always a completely unjustified pushback on the topic in American legislatures. But at this unique moment in 2008, Democrats finally thought they could get it pushed through. Spoiler alert: They didn’t.

Single-payer healthcare in Colorado is much like the proverbial football that Lucy always holds out for Charlie Brown, promising she won’t pull it away at the last moment, only for poor Chuck to land flat on his back when Lucy inevitably does so anyway. In 2017, Colorado attempted to pass a single-payer healthcare system by ballot initiative, but there was a problem: Colorado’s constitution bans public funding for abortion, so the ballot initiative, the way it was worded, would have meant that everyone who currently has abortions covered by private insurance would be forced to pay out of pocket, a situation that drew opposition from major abortion advocates. As recently as February of this year, a new bill was proposed to study the potential impact of single-payer healthcare, a bill that’s similar to one that failed in the last few years, but this version of the bill wouldn’t be funded by taxpayers, giving it a fighting chance of getting passed. Still, a lot has changed since 2008 when Democrats thought they could get single payer passed. Now they’re fighting just to explore the possibility.

An Education in Luring Top Minds (2008)

In 2008, Colorado State Sen. Brandon Shaffer was trying to get more people to go into teaching, particularly in districts and subject areas that are significantly understaffed, by instituting a $500,000 scholarship fund to get kids to go to Colorado public colleges and take teacher prep courses. Well, it seems he succeeded and created what became known as the Teach Colorado Grant, and in 2009 he introduced the “Troops to Teachers” bill which sought to bring more military veterans into the program.

Well, Schaffer went on to become President of the Colorado State Senate from 2009-2013, and, even though he’s no longer involved in politics, his dream of scholarships for teaching lives on. Today, the Educator Recruitment and Retention Program (ERR) offers up to $10,000 in one-time assistance to towards teacher prep courses, as long as the recipient signs on to work for three years in a “shortage area” for Colorado Public Schools. Still, education has a long way to go in Colorado, a state that was recently ranked 45th in the nation for education by USA Today, with teachers making less than the state median salary. It seems like we need more than just scholarships, we need to pay teachers more to incentivize better performance.

The Most Expensive Seat in the Country (2008)

In 2008, YS stopped in to a fundraiser for a “non-descript” man self-financing his campaign for the second U.S. Congressional District seat in what was being called the most expensive seat in the country (or at least one of the most expensive), predicting at the time that it would take $10 million or more to settle the seat. That non-descript man was none other than Jared Polis who, in 2019, was sworn in as Colorado’s first openly gay governor as well as our first Jewish governor.

Polis not only made CD2 one of the most expensive in the country, ten years later, he helped make that election the most expensive in Colorado history up to that point, with more than $200 million spent on Colorado campaigns and with Polis pumping more than $23 million into his own campaign. In 2022, he won re-election with a bit less of his own money financing campaign but still pumped $12.6 million into his own campaign that year. And, while we had a hard time picking Polis as our endorsement for the CD2 election in 2008, we had a little bit of an easier time in 2022 picking him for governor against the too-extreme Trump supporter Heidi Ganahl.

Far From the Party: A Republican Fights for Her Political Life (2008)

In 2008, we checked in on Betsy Markey, the Democratic challenger for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District against incumbent Marilyn Musgrave. The seat had traditionally been held by Republicans in this district, but Musgrave saw her lead in each election dwindling more and more, making it seem possible that, in 2008, Markey might overtake the Republican and win the seat.

Well, she did. In the 2008 election, Markey’s 11-point win was more than even her own staff had hoped for. The victory was short-lived, though, as Republican Cory Gardner won the seat back for his party in 2010, which he kept until 2015 when he moved from the House to the Senate. Markey’s political career didn’t end there, though, as she was then appointed to be secretary for intergovernmental affairs in the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration, a post she held until 2013.

Who Killed The Rocky (2009)

The closure of Rocky Mountain News, one of Colorado’s major newspapers, in February 2009 was a seismic shift in the local news industry that we look at in more depth in this issue titled, “The History of Independent Media in Boulder County,” which discusses how the 300 reporters at Rocky Mountain News (nicknamed “The Rocky”) competed with the same number of reporters from The Denver Post, resulting in too much competition for the same leads. In our 2009 piece, former Rocky writer Dave Flomberg explained the flaws of The Rocky’s parent corporation, E.W. Scripps Company, and how they failed to let The Rocky find a niche by focusing on local news while also failing to grow their digital content to reduce print costs.

Nearly 10 years later, in 2018, The Rocky’s biggest competitor, The Denver Post, nearly met the same demise. Learning lessons from the past, the staff of The Post launched what became known as The Denver Post Rebellion where its writers printed a series of articles protesting against the leadership of its hedge fund owners, Alden Global Capital, with the headline “News Matters” and the subheading “Colo. should demand the newspaper it deserves.” While Alden Global kept to their gameplan rather than following The Post’s call for them sell to better owners, Coloradans demonstrated that local news mattered to them, and The Denver Post Rebellion is often cited as part of the reason the newspaper didn’t fall the way The Rocky did.

Graduation: Now What? (2015)

In 2015, we examined how difficult it was for college students to find jobs in the wake of the then-recent recession. At the time, 44% of college graduates were underemployed, meaning they took jobs that didn’t require their college degree. According to an article in Forbes last year, the situation hasn’t improved in the past decade. 52% of college graduates — more than half — are now working in jobs that don’t require higher education and 75% of them remain in this situation for a full decade after college.

Down the Road: Ten Transportation Issues Impacting You in the Next 10 Years (2011) and Derailed (2016)

In this 2011 article, writer James Burrus talked about the transportation issues that would define the next decade. Now that it’s 14 years later, how much of what Burrus talked about has been realized? The Boulder BCycle bike-sharing program that he mentioned continues to this day, but now it competes with e-scooters from Lime, Lyft, and other major companies. Still, other transportation options that Burrus talked about in 2011, like FasTracks, have not fared as well over the years. In our 2016 article “Derailed” talked about a modified FasTracks proposal that was being put to voters.

The 2004 FasTracks program ran into funding difficulties in the 2010s that pushed their projection to build a commuter rail between Denver and Boulder/Longmont to the 2040s. As recently as February 2025, RTD has been talking about a revised plan to have a train from Denver to Fort. Collins with stops in between, such as Boulder and Longmont, by January 1, 2029. At this point, we’ll believe it when we see it.

Frack Attack (2012)

The concept of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing is a familiar one in 2025, especially for those living in the oil-rich areas of Colorado such as Erie. But, in 2012, the concept was still somewhat of a new one to our readers, enough so that we had to explain what it was. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, fracking dates back to an idea from 1862, although the modern concept of hydraulic fracturing started in the 1940s. Still, the boom in fracking is largely a 21st century phenomenon and, of the approximately 1 million wells that have been fracked from 1940 to 2014, about one-third of them were fracked after the year 2000.

In 2025, fracking and horizontal drilling have become more commonplace, and the results are becoming more and more catastrophic. EnvironmentAmerica estimates that 57,000 acres of land in Colorado have already been damaged by fracking, a number it says is equivalent to one-third of the acres of land in the state’s park system. Our latest fracking controversy happened just last year when the Draco Oil and Gas Development Plan proposed by Extraction Oil & Gas Inc./Civitas Resources was set to start drilling underneath residential areas and schools in Erie but was halted by a unanimous vote of the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission. The Draco Pad has sparked significant controversy due to its plan to drill 26 horizontal wells extending five miles beneath residential areas and schools in Erie. This would mark the longest lateral drilling ever attempted in Colorado, surpassing the previous maximum of four miles. Initially, the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) unanimously halted the project. However, on March 26, 2025, the ECMC reversed its decision, approving the plan with a 4–1 vote.

Notables: The New Guy (2012)

In 2012, we sat down with Longmont’s “New Guy,” the new city manager Harold Dominguez who had just uprooted himself from San Angelo, Texas to manage the Boulder County city. “Considering we had over 100 days of over 100-degree weather in San Angelo, I think we will enjoy it,” he said at the time about making the move from the sweltering Texas heat to the more temperate climate in Colorado. Well, he seems to enjoy it pretty well, because Dominguez isn’t the new guy anymore. He continues to serve as Longmont’s city manager to this day. In 2023, his base salary was raised to $305,620 by a unanimous vote  from Longmont City Council due to his exceptional competency at the job and the council’s desire to hold onto him in that position.

Breaking out of the cubicle (2012) and The Rise of Flexible Jobs (2012)

In 2012’s “Breaking out of the cubicle,” we checked in with Avery Brewing Company and explained how they’re considered one of the most fun places to work in Colorado, largely because of the fact that they let employees grab a free beer from the taproom at any time, even during work hours. We also dipped into some other fun workplaces such as Louisville’s Natural Habitat Adventures, which was sending employees on annual trips and holding ping-pong tournaments, and Training Peaks in Lafayette which gave employees a $600 per year stipend to spend on fitness. In “The Rise of Flexible Jobs,” we talked to Sara Sutton, who started FlexJobs to help people in the then-difficult task of finding flexible jobs that allowed work from home.

Of course, we all know how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the standard workplace, forcing companies to allow more employees to work from home. At the height of the pandemic, 61.5% of all work in the U.S. was remote. Today, hybrid and remote work is still popular, with the average American worker spending 1.4 days of the week working from home. So getting a free beer during work hours doesn’t quite hold a candle to being able to work out of your own home.

Kiss the Ring (2012) and Lucky Stars (2012)

We did two articles on Brad Feld in 2012, the man who was one of the pioneers of Boulder becoming a hub for tech start up companies. As managing director of venture capital firm Foundry Group and founder of Techstars, Feld was quickly becoming one of the rockstars of the venture capital field.

13 years later, and Feld still lives in Boulder with his wife, Amy Batchelor, who he started the Anchor Point Foundation. Foundry Group and Techstars are still up and running. Meanwhile, Feld spends his time writing books about venture capital and startups, running marathons, and sponsoring documentaries about topics he’s passionate about. Meanwhile, Boulder is still listed amongst the top cities in the U.S. for tech startups, recently making the lists from Crowdspring and Yahoo! Finance.

Smoke Signals: Q&A with Mason Tvert (2012)

Anyone who enjoys cannabis legally in Colorado has Mason Tvert to thank for it. He led successful campaigns to decriminalize cannabis possession on CU and CSU campuses, passed an initiative to legalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis for adults in Denver and, in 2012, we interviewed him about his efforts to pass Amendment 64: The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, which, at the time, looked likely to pass.

It’s little secret what happened after that. About a month after our article ran, Colorado voters approved Amendment 64 and Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize recreational cannabis use. Other states caught on, and recreational cannabis use is now fully legal in 25 states as well as the District of Columbia. Taking it a step further, Colorado has just started issuing licenses for “healing centers” where people can ingest psychedelic mushrooms under supervision.

Small Space, Big Idea (2013) and Resurrecting a Village: Tiny Homes for the Homeless (2016)

In 2013, we profiled Jay Shafer, founder of Tumbleweed Tiny House Co. and the movement to live more simply in homes built to be under 150 square feet. In 2016, we looked into how tiny homes could be a better solution for solving homelessness than jail-like temporary shelters which are undignified for the people living in them as well as more expensive in a comparative analysis of costs compared to Dignity Village, (a Tiny Home community in Portland, OR). Flash forward to 2025, and the tiny home market is expanding very rapidly. Yahoo Finance! Predicts that the size of the tiny homes market is estimated to grow by $3.71 billion from 2025-2029.

The Privatization of Colorado’s Public Education (2014)

If we thought that education was overly privatized in 2014, we had no idea what we were in for in the years to come. In our 2014 article, we looked at the increasing use of private corporations to dictate standardized tests in an attempt to cut costs and, by adopting a consistent, objective measure of student knowledge and skills, qualify for No Child Left Behind funding. Over reliance on companies such as Pearson went hand in hand with the introduction of Common Core State Standards.

In the years since this story ran, public education has become even more privatized nationwide with the sudden boom in charter schools, independently managed schools that somehow still qualify as a public school option for kids. According to pro-charter school advocacy group National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the five years from 2019 to 2024 saw an increase in enrollment in charter schools of 400,000 students nationwide in the 46 states that allow charter schools. Colorado is, of course, one of those 46 states. So, while the use of private companies to handle day-to-day operations in a public school was problematic, the move to make public education more privatized has become a sort of horrifying mutation of the existing problem.

Net Neutrality (2015)

In 2015, we looked at the decision by the FCC to classify the Internet under Title II of the 1996 Telecommunications act to ensure that service providers would treat every website equally and not charge fees to certain sites, like Netflix, to ensure the fastest possible speeds. The issue has gone back and forth over the years, being repealed during the Trump administration, then reinstated last year under the Biden administration. But then, in January of this year, a federal appeals court struck down the FCC’s net neutrality rules, arguing that the FCC did not have the legal authority to enact such rules. Interestingly enough, our article predicted that the net neutrality rules would make the Time Warner/Comcast merger more likely, but that merger never happened.

Hard-partying brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) plan to turn their sister’s wedding into a wild getaway. Photo Credit: Gemma LaMana.

Spotlight on Adam Devine (2016)

In 2016, we got a chance to sit down with actor Adam Devine to talk about his new comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, a movie you might not have heard of before despite its all-star cast featuring Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, and Aubrey Plaza. That might have something to do with the abysmal reviews of the movie, which currently holds a score of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critic’s consensus reading “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates benefits from the screwball premise and the efforts of a game cast, even if the sporadically hilarious results don’t quite live up to either.”

Meanwhile, Devine’s family has had a new addition, as last year he and his wife Chloe Bridges welcomed their son Beau into the world. Devine said of the experience of being a new dad that “Every day is like a new adventure.” Fatherhood seems to suit him pretty well.

Graphic image by De La Vaca

The ORR v. Abortion | Duly Noted (2019)

In this 2019 piece, we looked at Scott Lloyd, the Trump appointee who was then running the Office of Refugee Resettlement and denied a refugee the right to an abortion, even going so far as to say that he has never granted permission for a detainee to receive an abortion for any reason. Thankfully, the refugee sued through the ACLU and won her right to an abortion, but the incident demonstrated the Trump administration’s real agenda on abortion: They wanted to end it at all costs.

Sadly, we all know where this story goes: In 2022, the Supreme Court, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson, overturned the landmark case of Roe v. Wade which declared a legal right to abortion. The decision reversing Roe v. Wade, spearheaded by all three of Trump’s Supreme Court appointees — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — found that “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” setting the battle for reproductive freedom back decades. The result has been that the decision on abortion rights was thrown back to the states, with many now finding their access to abortion to be severely restricted. Make no mistake, the Trump administration always wanted its appointees to stand in the way of any and all rights to abortion.

Time After Time… (2019)

Sadly, our 2019 article entitled “Time After Time…” was not a tribute to longtime pop star and LGBTQ+ advocate Cyndi Lauper. Instead, it talked about how time after time Donald Trump chose the dishonorable, disreputable, and immoral path and asked if the Republican Party had the fortitude to break ranks and vote to impeach one of their own amidst the strict party-line votes that are so common for Congress in the 21st century.

As we now know, Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2019 brought forth charges against him  for improperly seeking help from a foreign power to boost his chances of re-election. In fact, in 2021, Trump became the first president to be impeached twice, having faced another impeachment over his role in the January 6 insurrection. But he was acquitted of all charges in both cases by the Senate, keeping him from being removed from office and being barred from running again. Thus, he ran again in 2024 and became the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms as well as the first convicted felon to be elected to the Presidency.

“…Unmarried, straight white dudes who couldn’t get laid.” (2019)

In 2019, we discussed the Newsweek interview by Tareq Haddad with Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie that explained that Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist, targeted incels and other insecure white men with a message of xenophobia and racism because of how easy they are to manipulate. In essence, we learned that Bannon knew exactly what he was doing the entire time, using hatred and frustration as fuel for the fire that skyrocketed Trump into an unlikely presidency in 2016.

When Trump was re-elected in 2024, Bannon was no longer a member of the inner circle, and yet he still communicates with Trump and his team from time to time. However, Bannon recently told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation that he is part of an effort to win Trump a third term in 2028, despite the fact that presidents are term limited by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. Short of a violent overthrow of the government, a third Trump term seems unlikely.

Fatal police shooting in Boulder over the weekend (2023)

Despite being one of the most recent stories on our list, this might be the story with the most significant developments in the time since the original article was posted. In 2023, we reported on the erratic behavior of a then-unidentified woman, who was later identified as 51-year-old Jeannette Alatorre. After officers responded to reports of a woman at the North Boulder Recreation Center refusing to leave the bathroom, less than an hour later they received another call about the same woman pointing a gun at the people trying to exit the recreation center. The gun was later determined to be an airsoft gun with the orange tip removed, but officers say they were unaware of that at the time. The police claim to have taken the proper steps necessary to de-escalate the situation non-violently before ultimately using lethal force, resulting in Alatorre’s death.

It’s possible that the police used every means available to them to avoid the death of Alatorre, but in the wake of officer-related shootings that could have been easily prevented, it was important to make absolutely certain that the right actions were taken in Alatorre’s case. This is where YS entered the story. When YS requested the officer’s body-worn camera (BWC) footage, Boulder Police Department demanded an exorbitant fee of $2,857.50 for locating and redacting the footage. YS, attorney Dan Williams, and Alatorre’s daughter entered into a lawsuit alleging that the fee violated Colorado’s Law Enforcement Integrity and Transparency Act of 2020, which restricts such fees. The city of Boulder argued that the broader Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act allowed them to charge reasonable fees of requesters. A district court ruled in YS’ favor in April 2024, but the City of Boulder filed an appeal in January of this year that has yet to be heard by a court. So, while the tragic story of Jeannette Alatorre is heartbreaking, it may change the way police are held accountable for such incidents in the future.

Like journalism like this? Support the local press that’s been telling the truth for 25 years. Become a sustaining member and get our monthly print edition at home. We’ve weathered 9/11, floods, fires, economic crashes—and some deeply chaotic years. With your support, we’ll keep going. Because democracy still depends on journalism.

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.

The post 25 Stories Then and Now appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Media literacy has become increasingly important since the debut of the internet. In most households, the news no longer arrives on the doorstep of the house first thing in the morning. Instead, it attacks viewers while they scroll on social media, providing snippets of information (often taken out of context) to play on one’s attention. While “media” has been around for thousands of years, the past two decades spurred the development of new types of media and completely changed the structure of who and what is behind the news. Yellow Scene Magazine is in its 25th year of production. It’s seen multiple iterations of the media over more than two decades. Here’s a brief history of independent media in Boulder County and how it drove the industry to where it is today.

Feud fuels award-winning journalism in Colorado

The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News continuously battled it out for more than a century to become the newspaper head of the state. In 1980, the tides turned when The Denver Post forfeited its lead after Times Mirror Company purchased the publication. The purchase created more interest in Colorado’s journalism field, attracting reporters from other states.

Corey Hutchins, the co-director of Colorado College’s Journalism Institute, told YS, “Denver Post had about 300 reporters. The Rocky Mountain News had about 300 reporters, and they would compete for scoops, in a city with 600 reporters crawling all over local governments looking for what’s going on and what people needed to know in that rapidly growing city.” One year shy of a 150-year celebration, Rocky Mountain News shuttered its doors, completely changing the face of Front Range journalism.

The hedge fund dilemma

A rising availability of online news sources began tanking print media sales in the late 20th century. By the early 2000s, the majority of journalism shifted to an online platform, causing economic strain across the industry. Publications that chose to keep print alive continuously found that it was too costly to do. And even The Denver Post, which existed for more than a century, found itself struggling to make ends meet. In 2010, Alden Global Capital purchased The Denver Post in another significant move that changed journalism across Colorado. In 2018, the company laid off a third of its journalists.

Hutchins recalled, ”We went from a city that had about 600 journalists to two papers to a city with one that now has about 60 something.” Across the nation, a similar pattern emerged. In fact, two hedge funds own three of the nation’s most prominent news chains.

While companies like Alden Global Capital began massive layoffs, editors and journalists found themselves gravitating towards non-hedge-owned companies. In 2018, a group of journalists who had previously worked for The Denver Post left the publication to establish The Colorado Sun, a non-profit news organization that quickly gained success and support across the state.

A shift towards new-world media

Hutchins explained that since the early 2000s, the city of Denver has seen a lot of “new, innovative online outlets” servicing the region as well as the expansion of public media. Even more significant was a shift in culture that changed how reporters receive and publish news. Hutchins said, “Collaboration has supplanted competition in Colorado, and Colorado is kind of a pioneer of that ethos.” At the same time that hedge funds were seizing control of news publications, creating guidelines and restrictions on the type of content that could be published, the journalism field retaliated by working together to support fact-based reporting.

One-man media shows

Subsequently,  the industry has recently seen a rise of one-man independent media outlets across Colorado. These outlets, which are generally online resources, often come in the form of an e-newsletter, a digital site, or a podcast, and they have seen large success since those who run them have often been laid off by a hedge fund or a similar corporate-owned publication.

Hutchins explained that these forms of media have been successful “because they’ve already built an audience of credibility in that community.” Hutchins points to The NoCo Optimist in Greeley as one example, and the Western Slope as another.

Shifting Journalistic Integrity and Ethical Standards

One question that’s permeated the industry throughout the monumental shifts it’s experienced over the past two decades is: Is it possible to maintain journalistic integrity and ethical standards when a publication is corporate or hedge-fund owned?

Publications that are owned by a large entity often see a restriction in the type of content they can publish. It’s also not uncommon for buying guides to emerge on these publications, without a testing process. This means that writers shape recommendations surrounding gear and products (for which the publication receives an affiliate commission) based on online reviews instead of in-the-flesh evaluation. The average reader then consumes this type of content, blissfully unaware that the products they’re about to purchase could be lemons.

While new independent media outlets like one-man shows and small online newsletters, podcasts, and other outlets could potentially eradicate this issue, determining the integrity of a media outlet, “certainly is a case-by-case situation,” says Hutchins.

Independent Media vs. Non-Profit Media

At the same time that independent media resources began crowding the internet, non-profit media sources also saw a significant boost. In order to be classified as a non-profit media outlet, the outlet has to assume 501(c)(3), which provides tax-exempt status. While nonprofits are not owned by corporations, they do operate under controlled guidelines when accepting grant money. This means that they’re generally less “independent” than, say, a friend’s blog or a podcast with a single owner.

Both independent media and non-profit media sources generally operate under the pretense that they will educate the community instead of prioritizing profit for shareholders. In theory, the profit these media types acquire should then be invested back into the product to create the newsroom. But even some independent publications are susceptible to perceived obligation from advertisers who support the publication. Which begs the question: Does anyone not have an agenda?

Algorithmic News and How it Shapes Media Consumption

One of the many challenges that readers face today while consuming news content is navigating misinformation. Most social media platforms feature some kind of news product that’s often brief, taken out of context, or even artificial. But unless a reader is media literate, they may take content that’s inaccurate and spread it amongst their peers, who assume that the source is valid.

What’s more is that algorithms are widely used to choose content that they perceive to be in alignment with the viewer’s values, providing a very small piece of information without context to fuel the viewer’s beliefs. In order to equip oneself with a factual and whole depiction of news events, the viewer needs to be able to evaluate it for holes, inaccuracies, and partial truths. In many cases, this vital piece of the process is ignored or overlooked.

Hutchins theorizes that part of the reason why this happens is because it’s up to the viewer to educate themselves on how to evaluate content since it isn’t a common skill for education institutions to teach. What’s more is that most news outlets are unlikely to teach the viewer because of their own in-house financial strain.

Algorithms are problematic because they create the “bubble phenomenon,” which essentially involves providing viewers with a tiny piece of an event. While social media has largely made news more accessible to the masses, it also creates a conundrum surrounding misinformation and clickbait, which is content that’s designed to fuel readership through exaggeration and wordplay.

Being able to navigate the many intricacies of this type of media consumption is a vital part of education. Hutchins adds, “Media fluency is absolutely critical, and something that we need to make sure, those of us who care about this stuff need to make sure we’re teaching as much as we can, and also, individuals need to take responsibility for their own news media diets and consumption.”

Enter: Independent News

Shay Castle, the Editor-in-Chief of Boulder Weekly, started her own publication after leaving the Daily Camera in 2019. Her entrance into the independent media field is relatively recent but she has been observing Colorado’s independent news scene for many years. She reflects, “I think we’ve seen a huge amount — at least in Colorado — of people founding their own independent media outlets whether that’s a newsletter on Substack or something like Boulder Reporting Lab. There’s been so much energy around new media.”

When asked whether or not independent media is an important part of the industry, Castle says, “Someone I knew recently told me a different version of this question. What would the world like if [independent media] didn’t exist? And I think when we’re talking high level independent media — folks that aren’t controlled by a corporation, Boulder Weekly, Colorado Sun, Yellow Scene — we are not chasing profits.”

Independent news has historically been shown to expose corruption, hold authorities accountable, and provide a platform for debate, which large corporations seldom do since it involves taking a stance and reducing profit. One of the first strategies that authoritarian governments have implemented to gain control in the past is to stifle funding for independent news outlets, resulting in less education and a less ability to self-organize against tyranny.

Today, the integrity of a publication can still generally be found in its relationship with money, according to Castle, “You can’t both do the public good and be profitable. So I think independent media is important because we need folks who are prioritizing the mission above all else.”

Why Independent News Matters

World hunger is continuously a problem, impacting more than 800 million people every year. While developed countries are not immune to this issue, extreme famine has yet to take place in a country with democratic principles and independent media resources. This suggests that there’s a direct tie between the vast circulation of news that’s funded by the individual instead of corporations with the single-minded goal of profit.

This type of news is also responsible for informing the greater public about decisions they have to make in their lives, whether that’s in regards to managing COVID-19 exposure or determining which political candidate to support during the latest voting call.

While large news outlets are generally responsible for mass consumption, small, independent companies are generally more immersed in the local communities over which they report, which gives them an advantage when it comes to providing informative coverage.

In 1791 Bill of Rights was established to ensure that no government entity should become more powerful than its people. Across the nation, the media is sometimes referred to as the “fourth estate,” which recognizes its importance in supporting voter education as well as democracy. The disassembly of independent news would not only make the education of US citizens more challenging, if not impossible, it would also potentially threaten democracy.

Stacy Feldman, Founder and Publisher of the Boulder Reporting Lab, tells Yellow Scene that independent media reduces corruption, “Academic research shows when local newspapers shut down, corruption increases, municipal budgets grow, and government salaries rise — because no one is watching. These outcomes are considered negative due to the lack of oversight.”

As a non-profit, Boulder Reporting Lab works to educate readers about the pressing issues of the times. Feldman released the publication in 2021, after recognizing the need to support non-profit education, “We started by covering COVID but we also did a lot of work to try to talk to members of the community and really understand what it was that people thought was missing not to be derivative or duplicate,” she recalls.

Challenges that Independent News Faces Today

While independent news is flourishing to some extent across the state of Colorado, it does come with its own set of challenges. At the forefront of those challenges is funding.

“No one has quite figured out the funding yet,” says Castle, “That’s why you see so many non-profits. Even the Colorado Sun didn’t start as a non-profit but they transitioned.” Castle explains that Boulder County generally has a lot of wealth, which makes it possible for some independent news publications to exist. More rural regions of the state are less lucky.

Another issue that local media resources are facing is readership trust. Nationwide the vast majority of citizens are skeptical of the media at large. Smaller, local publications with different practices from hedge fund-owned publications get lumped into the same category as all of the other news publications, which leads to general distrust.

Feldman says that there’s likely a correlation between reputable news declines and authoritarian government, “I think that you could create a throughline to that phenomenon — the decline of local newspapers, to algorithms filling the void, to the rise in fascism.”

The Future of Independent News

Despite the continuous struggles that the independent media faces, it’s been a historically resilient field. And it continues to be the most trusted source when it comes to whistleblowing and exposing corruption. While the industry has yet to stabilize, the immersion of new forms of independent media and a determination to continue educating and sharing the truth is putting the industry in the spotlight once again. What’s also true is that the community is more involved than ever in this process.

Feldman says that in recent years, the independent news industry has “just exploded. Especially non-profit journalism. I started working in non-profit journalism during the second Bush administration. Yeah, I mean you can look at the numbers at the institute of non-profit news, but their membership has really skyrocketed.” She adds, ”I think it creates a natural incentive for meaningful journalism because that’s what people want to pay for.”

While media skepticism remains problematic across the industry, some readers recognize that publications should not be lumped under a single umbrella. “People tend to trust local news more than national news, which they should,” says Castle. Still, there’s a massive need for the development of media literacy across the nation. Without it, the existing issues will perpetuate fear and the dissolution of reputable news sources.

Another interesting development is that some outlets are taking the reins. In fact, Castle says that Boulder Weekly is beginning to transition to employee ownership, marking the progression of locally-funded media sources. “We’re just getting started but there’s so much talent and passion here. We know from research from other employee-owned publications they’re more sustainable, they pay better. Who better than to make decisions for the future than the people that are working here,” she says.

Like journalism like this? Support the local press that’s been telling the truth for 25 years. Become a sustaining member and get our monthly print edition at home. We’ve weathered 9/11, floods, fires, economic crashes—and some deeply chaotic years. With your support, we’ll keep going. Because democracy still depends on journalism.

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.

The post The History of Independent Media in Boulder County appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

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.

Your Native Advertising Sucks and Why Content is Still King

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.

The post Publishers Note | January 2025 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

11/20/2024 Updated to reflect new reported vote numbers: Trump: 76,781,645, Harris: 74,256,209

Sitting down to write this month’s Publisher’s Note has been tough. This past week has pretty much been wasted. I have a long to-do list, and as an independent media still committed to true journalism, I can’t afford to take midweek days off. But I was spent. I couldn’t focus on anything in front of me.

Yellow Scene Magazine (YS) did not endorse Donald J. Trump in our Annual Election Guide. In fact, we rated him as too extreme—and we stand by that rating. America now faces a potential future of fascism and tyranny, where lives and loss of rights are at very real risk. It’s disheartening that we’ve reached a point where some find joy in the pain others express over these outcomes. 

Matthew Shepard

I am preparing for those who supported Donald J. Trump to feel emboldened. What I fear most is seeing people targeted, beaten, or attacked for simply being who they are—especially those who don’t fit the vision of America outlined in Project 2025 and those who oppose it.

Project 2025 isn’t new; its roots trace back to the 1970s. After the New Deal and the revolutionary progress of the 60s, the right realized it couldn’t win elections if left solely to voters. As America moved beyond the Robber Baron and Slaveowner eras, those clinging to the past organized, launching think tanks and securing corporate funding. Over the last 40 years, anti-trust laws and civil liberties eroded, granting corporations more rights than individuals. Both Republicans, led by Ronald Reagan, and Democrats, including Bill Clinton, played a role. As Heather Cox Richardson notes in Democracy Awakening, no single party will “save us.”

I’m troubled by how the mainstream media framed this election. Throughout the campaign, major networks portrayed Donald Trump as a legitimate candidate, often overlooking his 34 felony convictions, numerous civil suits, and involvement in the January 6 insurrection. In their pursuit of ratings, they failed to present all the facts, leading to the normalization of a candidate with a significant criminal record.

Since the election, they have presented a narrative of how America moved right. This is not factually correct.  In 2020, Trump received 74,224,319 votes. In 2024, he received 74,312,688. In 2020, Joseph Biden received 81,282,916 votes, and Kamala Harris garnered 70,383,093.

It is not so much that Trump won but that the Democrats lost. 

This isn’t to overlook the nearly 300 years of racism, sexism, patriarchy, and classism that are embedded in America’s foundation. Manifest Destiny and Chattel Slavery remain horrendous stains on our history, and racism and sexism are far from over—they persist in plain sight. But the deeper question is, why did 12 million people choose not to vote this time?

Voter suppression is still very real, and it certainly plays a role. However, in 2020, we had a national mail-in ballot system due to the pandemic, which made voting more accessible. This is precisely why Republicans work so hard to erode voting rights. Meanwhile, Democrats failed to effectively communicate how they would protect and uplift Americans, leading many to stay home.

I recently joined Denver journalist and influencer Jeff Fard on his show for a deep and thoughtful conversation. We delved into many topics, and while I didn’t have answers to all the questions, two points stood out: Jeff suggested that the first female president of the United States could likely be a Republican. More importantly, he emphasized that white people might abandon “woke” efforts and revert to a default state of whiteness to navigate the current climate. I fear this potential silence as much as I fear Project 2025.

You can watch the full discussion here: 

The Robber Baron’s corrupt business practices set the stage for the Great Depression. The 2008 Great Recession showed us that unfettered capitalism inevitably leads to collapse. America thrived most from the 1930s to the 1980s, a period when big business was also heavily regulated. Before Jack Welch took over General Electric, corporations prioritized a balanced approach: growing their businesses, providing stable jobs, and generating profits for shareholders, all while considering long-term sustainability and the greater good. Profit wasn’t the sole focus—there was a broader sense of responsibility. Welch changed that, championing the idea that shareholder value should come above all else. This shift moved corporate America away from a holistic role in society.

Today, we’re left with a proliferation of billionaires who, in my opinion, are overly idolized. Meanwhile, wages stagnate, the cost of living skyrockets, small businesses are squeezed, and industries and companies are gutted—all so a small elite can control 90% of the world’s wealth.

I don’t know what the future holds, and right now, it doesn’t look very bright. But throughout history, humans have endured cruel and unjust practices, and over time, humanity seems to push progress forward. It’s the short term that’s frightening. While I fear for what lies ahead for LGBTQ+, BIPOC, immigrants, women, and all other marginalized groups in our country, I have been in this fight for a long time.

In 2001, YS was just a few months old. We had grown from a simple yellow flyer into a true community resource. Then 9/11 happened, and I faced a pivotal decision: What kind of publication would we be? Would we stay silent and stick to safe stories, or would we speak out? We chose the latter, taking a stand against the Iraq War.

Looking back, I’m comfortable with the issues I’ve chosen to speak out on throughout my life. As a child, I didn’t understand why my Black friends and I couldn’t play together more often or why some people lived in slums while I lived in the suburbs. By my twenties, civil liberties became my focus, and back then, we believed we could win those battles.

I rebelled against the “Greed is Good” mantra of the 80s and vocally opposed Ronald Reagan, which didn’t win me new friends. I understood why the riots happened after the police beat Rodney King, and I was told I didn’t understand the nuances when I tried to explain. I spoke out against apartheid in South Africa and stood in support of Nelson Mandela. As a woman in business, I fought for equal treatment and batted away more than one unwelcome hand as a waitress.

I’ve taken a stand on Ireland’s right to self-rule, opposed Bush’s invasion of Iraq, and reminded people that the U.S. had one of the worst UN violation records—perhaps why 9/11 happened. I went to Standing Rock, covered the 2020 racial justice protests, and loudly fought against Oil and Gas harming human lives while advocating for alternative energy. I’ve pushed for criminal justice reform and spoken against the Prison Industrial Complex (everyone on the planet needs to watch the documentary 13th). I’ve called out the trauma at the root of addiction and our nation’s abhorrent treatment of mental health. Over the 24 years (soon to be 25) I’ve owned YS, I’ve published countless articles rallying against antisemitism. I’ve stood firmly against supporting the genocide of Palestinians, and looking ahead, I’ll be vocal about Project 2025, too.

I am discouraged that all the progress we’ve made could be undone in the face of Project 2025. I’ve dedicated my life to local journalism, and after 38 years, I believe in its importance now more than ever. Journalism must speak truth to power and hold those in power accountable. But despite the challenges, I also believe in humanity. There will always be truth-tellers. We may face threats, violence, and even death, but humanity does eventually seem to keep moving forward, even if prevailing feels uncertain right now.

As a community, we face a choice: Do we come together and keep fighting, or do we retreat underground and stay silent?

For my part, I will continue the mission of producing local journalism as we head into our 25th year in 2025. However, this is no small task. I have a team to support—writers, artists, printers, drivers, and our bookkeeper—all of whom make this work possible.

Next year marks our 25th anniversary. While I’m uncertain how celebratory the occasion will feel, I am committed to fostering joy and a sense of community amidst it all. Over the years, we’ve tackled vital topics like mental health, trauma, climate change, disaster recovery, economic crises, education, voting, democracy, justice, elections, corruption (both local and national), culture, and even marketing.

We must remain rooted in our community to find hope for our future. And to continue delivering truth to that community, we need your support.

The next issue coming up is our Annual Locavore Holiday Guide.

When you support the local businesses in our community, you support your neighbor, not the Billionaires. For this Holiday Season, vote with your pocketbook. 

Now more than ever, local journalism is essential. Please consider becoming a sustaining supporter and start receiving the printed copy at home. Research shows that most of us prefer reading on paper—it’s just crucial that what’s printed truly matters. YS is dedicated to bringing you the stories and insights we all need to stay informed, engaged, and connected to our community.

The poem read on Jeff Fard’s show:

---

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.

The post Elections and Holidays: At Least We Have Christmas to Look Forward To appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The Carnivale Masquerade Gala is returning, and this year we’re bringing the disco vibes with DJ Drake!

Join us on October 10, 2024, from 5-9 pm at the new Bricks on Main in Longmont for an evening of dancing and celebration. Tickets are just $25 and the VIP room tickets are just $55. Tickets available through this link HERE

How much can change in a short amount of time? From the recent elections to the evolving landscape of local journalism, it’s clear that our community relies on platforms like Yellow Scene Magazine now more than ever. As one of two locally owned media outlets in Boulder County amidst corporate acquisitions and franchise takeovers, YS remains dedicated to authentic, community-driven journalism. We’re proud of our continued recognition and nominations, underscoring our commitment to delivering stories that matter to you. But we think if we have to do the whole fundraising thing, it is time to party!

Looking ahead, 2025 marks our 25th anniversary, a milestone we’re eagerly preparing to celebrate. The landscape of media funding has shifted dramatically, with digital advancements and rising production costs reshaping how we operate. Yet, amid these changes, media corporatization looms large. Today, 90% of what we see or hear is controlled by six major corporations. If a hedge fund owns our local newspaper, how much money is it investing in the costs of doing true journalism? Just google “journalism layoffs.” Will they refuse to print a story because of special interests? At YS, we remain committed to upholding rigorous journalistic standards, delivering unbiased reporting on critical issues, and fostering community dialogue.

I have never had to explain that YS does authentic journalism as much over my career as I have in the last decade. Consumers now have to consider whether what they are reading is AI, corporate backed, or sponsored content. As long as there is corruption, there will always be truth-tellers. The challenge is having powerful , trusted platforms to tell those truths. Despite the digital age’s dominance, and providing a robust website of news, YS remains dedicated to print publication, recognizing its unique ability to combat digital fatigue and provide a tangible connection with our readers. Print offers a sensory experience unmatched by screens, fostering deeper engagement and trust among our audience. This commitment to authenticity has enabled YS to maintain a loyal readership and deliver compelling content that resonates across generations. As we continue to navigate an increasingly complex media landscape, your partnership and support are more crucial than ever.

Join us at the Carnivale Masquerade Gala for an evening of music, dancing, and community spirit on October 10. Let’s celebrate 25 years of YS and look forward to the stories yet to unfold.

Tickets: https://fundrazr.com/YellowSceneGala?ref=cr_bDbOR0

Warm regards,

Shavonne Blades, Publisher

The post Letter from the Publisher appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Carnivale Masquerade Gala: A Night of Fun and Fundraising for Local Journalism

Date: October 10, 2024
Location: Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont
Time: 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Tickets: $25 (Available here)

Longmont, CO — Join us for a spectacular night of celebration and community support at the Carnivale Masquerade Gala, a fundraiser dedicated to supporting local, independent journalism. Taking place on Thursday, October 10th at Bricks on Main in Longmont, this lively event promises a night filled with entertainment, laughter, and a whole lot of dancing!

The gala will feature an exciting lineup of performances, including a fortune teller, magician, stilt walkers, jugglers, and a performance by Z-BASSSpeaks. Lafayette’s own Poet Laureate will also share words of wisdom, while DJ Drake will get the party going with the funkiest disco beats.

What to Expect:

• Time: 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM — Perfect for attending after work!
• Dress Code: Come dressed for fun! Don’t have a costume? No problem! We’ve got free Mardi Gras-style masks, glow-in-the-dark tattoos, feather boas, and a face-painter to help you join in the Carnivale spirit.
• Tickets: Only $25! Your ticket helps fund Yellow Scene Magazine’s mission of delivering quality, independent journalism to the community.

This evening is not just about fun but about ensuring that local, independent journalism continues to thrive. Yellow Scene Magazine has been a free publication for 24 years, working tirelessly to bring important stories to the community. With local newsrooms under constant threat from hedge funds and conglomerates, the need to support independent journalism has never been greater.

“Journalism isn’t just a job; it’s a commitment to the truth and to our community. Yellow Scene has never charged for access to our stories, and we won’t start now. Our fundraiser helps ensure we can keep bringing vital, independent news to the community for years to come,” said Yellow Scene Publisher.

Yellow Scene has fought to protect the public’s right to information, recently winning a lawsuit against the City of Boulder over public access to police video footage. The magazine has earned 190 awards, including 23 this year alone, and is committed to maintaining editorial integrity by never selling out to advertorial content.

Why It Matters: News deserts are real, and the rise of misinformation makes it more important than ever to have trusted, independent media. Yellow Scene Magazine works hard to fill this void, providing local coverage that connects the community with stories that matter.

In addition to the fun and festivities, the gala offers attendees the opportunity to donate to a silent auction, helping raise further funds to support Yellow Scene’s mission.

Can’t make it?
You can still support local journalism by making a tax-deductible donation through the same ticket link.

Let’s come together to celebrate and support the work that keeps our community informed, connected, and strong. Join us for a night of dancing, fun, and giving back!

For more information and media inquiries, please contact:

Shavonne Blades

Yellow Scene Magazine, Publisher

advertising@yellowscene.com

The post Carnivale Masquerade Gala: A Night of Fun and Fundraising for Local Journalism-Oct 10th, 2024 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

[ Local ]

• CO Springs settles $2 milloin lawsuit from three officers beating Black man during a traffic stop
• Boulder plans to install “bi-directional” car chargers that will be able to both charge vehicles and power buildings
•  Ranchers bemoan the loss of half a dozen cattle, call for halts, after wildlife experts reintroduce native Grey wolves to Colorado in a move that will help restore natural balance and strengthen the ecosystem
• Colorado prisoners injured while performing hard labor at below minimum wage for corporations have little recourse to sue, cannot protest, and can be sent to solitary confinement as punishment for not working
  The Northern Lights make an extremely rare appearance over Colorado skies putting on a natural light show for anyone with clear skies

[ National ]

• Trump makes several statements over the month, indicating he will revoke any LGBTQ+ protections he can, tells donors he supports Israel “crushing” Palestinians, and will deport students for protesting
• Supreme Court rules that a gerrymandered South Carolina district can stay rigged, which in effect excludes thousands of Black voters
• Biden and Trump agree to a debate in June, likely to change absolutely no one’s opinion of either candidate
• Judge Cannon indefinitely postpones trial on the former President’s mishandling of classified information, in a sign that our courts are totally healthy and functioning as they should to protect democracy and hold power accountable…

[ International ]

• U.S. State Department states it is logical to conclude that Israel has committed war crimes and violated international law, yet weapons are still being sent to the belligerent party
• Iranian president dies in a fiery mountain helicopter crash during foggy conditions on a mountain range near Armenia
• Horrifyingly, but not surprisingly, Human Rights Watch states that Israeli attacks on aid being sent to Palestinians are “not unusual”
• Assassination attempt against Slovakia’s far-right Prime Minister leaves him gravely wounded but luckily still alive, attacker was arrested immediately

Quotes

“These efforts target and single out an already vulnerable group of kids and, if successful, will place an additional administrative burden on our already-overworked teachers, coaches, and school administrators” – Bruce Parker of Out Boulder on anti_LGBTQ+ ballot initiative

“…under new anti-terrorism legislation just passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, that kind of hard-hitting investigative journalism could cost The Intercept our nonprofit status” – The Intercept about  losing funding over their criticism of the Israeli war in Gaza

“I used to believe I was born biologically… upon reflecting on my experiences I was convinced God had sent me” – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, the world’s largest democracy

“All Colorado parents should be aiming to remove their children from public education” – email directive from director of special initiatives for the Colorado GOP

By the Numbers

$2 Million / 17 Children

City of Uvalde settles with the families of 17 children killed in the mass shooting that continued because of incompetent law enforcement

34 of 34

Guilty counts for the first ever felony conviction of a former president

2025

Project 2025 openly calls for an authoritarian take-over of the federal government following the next Republican presidential victory, remaking the presidency using executions and the military to quell opposition

50th / 1.1%

Colorado saw the second smallest increase in teachers’ salaries nationwide, at just over 1%, ranking 50 out of 51 (including Washington D.C.)

-18%

Property crime rates in Boulder dropped by almost 1/5 since 2020, but report notes violent crime rates have risen slightly over the same period

The post Month in Review | May 2024 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

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.

The post Letter From the Editor | May 2024 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

As I begin my tenure in the Corner, I offer a few thoughts on the craft we practice in these pages.

Journalism is a threatened species. The primacy of social media marginalizes and handicaps real journalists as objective reporting offers little seduction in a world where Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are considered reliable sources. Even the most — allegedly — reliable arbiters of complex matters are inclined to sell their wares with a dash of sensation or dollop of “give them what they want.” It is not hard to find a writer’s or editor’s implicit bias in a supposedly “objective” news story, even in the venerable The New York Times. In this corner, there will be no implicit bias. The bias will be quite explicit, as befits opinion writing.

One aspect of the surrender to commercial pressure is bending over backward to appear “objective,” thereby aiding and abetting a culture of false equivalence. The most absurd recent stumble was the 5-day reign of Ronna (Romney) McDaniel as a contributor to NBC News. This opportunistic Republican operative was so deep in Trump’s pocket that I’m surprised the NBC execs found her at all. You may wonder, “What were they thinking?” The answer is: “They weren’t.” The New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, and other purported “liberal” outlets hire conservative opinion writers to appear balanced. In rare cases, the efforts are useful but more often are contrived. As Stephen Colbert quipped at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

Despite reality’s liberal bias, I recognize the dangers of claiming the exclusive “truth.” In many complex matters, a variety of thoughtful perspectives can be illuminating. Good citizenship is cultivated through honest debate. But when you spend too much time bending over backward, falls like the McDaniel debacle are inevitable. Professor Walter Kotschnig offered cautionary advice in 1940 when he urged Mount Holyoke College students to keep their minds open — “but not so open that your brains fall out.”

The most rankling iterations of progressive surrender are found in the sad capitulation to the culture war barrages from the right flank. Take this paragraph from a recent New York Times op-ed by columnist Pamela Paul about Threads, the Meta version of Twitter/X:

“If progressives and liberals were provoked by Trumpers and Breitbart types on Twitter, on Threads they have the opportunity to be wounded by their own kind.

Threads’ algorithm seems precision-tweaked to confront the user with posts devoted to whichever progressive position is slightly lefter-than-thou. It knows, for example, exactly where — on the left, bien sûr — you stand with regard to the Middle East, gender ideology, D.E.I., body positivity, neurodivergence, Covid …”

The Middle East “standing” she apparently references is that of objections to the indiscriminate slaughter and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. At least in that matter, the historic plight of Jews and the inhumanity of Hamas offer a plausible realm for discussion. But “gender ideology”? What precisely is that? Do she and others believe that gender identity is just a political gimmick on the left — a belief that should be balanced by good old heteronormative religious hokum? Or the nearly universal disdain for D.E.I, as though the acronym itself presents a clear danger to civilization? Or, heaven forbid, that women, in particular, should refrain from positive regard toward their own natural shape? Or “neurodivergence,” which, perhaps to Ms. Paul, is better expressed by “weird” or “disabled”? And what on earth is an oppressively progressive view on COVID-19?

The right wing and its morality goon squad have successfully marginalized or reversed much of the hard-won social progress of my lifetime. They have Stone-Aged women’s rights, outlawed anti-racism and the teaching of real history, burned books that exude a whiff of gayness, scrapped affirmative action, replaced bibliographies with Bibles, and demonized the most vulnerable in society. Protesting venomous speakers is recast as “cancel culture.” Sensitivity to the vulnerability of Black and other college students in the minority is ridiculed as “snowflake safe spaces.”

It is exceedingly disappointing to find that so many so-called liberals jump right on that apologetic bandwagon, often postulating that progressive “overreach” will cost elections. The best defense is a good offense. Liberals, Democrats, and Progressives (aka sane and humane people) should fight like hell for women, racial equity, the protection of the most vulnerable, and the need for social, judicial, and legislative efforts to those ends.

I expect to continue fighting like hell. I hope you’re in my corner.

Always happy to hear from you: stevehutnelson@gmail.com.

The post Nelson’s Corner | April 2024 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

BY DAVE PERRY, Sentinel Colorado Editor (AP Storyshare)

Inquiring minds may want to know all they can about the workings of the government, but the journalists who reveal what goes on have to pay — a lot.

Colorado boasts an invaluable tool against government corruption and public disinformation: The Colorado Open Records Act.

Essentially, it says that the public owns all government records, and, with few exceptions, those records must be disclosed upon request.

Based on the principle of the federal Freedom of Information Act, the invaluable CORA tool is responsible for thousands of media stories and investigations exposing awkward, dangerous and even illegal feats by the entire range of Colorado governments and government officials.

The Sentinel, like dozens of media outlets across the state, have depended on the law to make important facts public and piece together information stashed in government file cabinets and hard drives.

Several recent Sentinel stories and investigations into controversial incidents inside the Aurora Police Department would have gone unreported or been incomplete without the capability of a so-called CORA request to ferret out information and details not made public.

A vast trove of critical stories uncovered by diligent media across Colorado — revealing malfeasance among foster child systems, social service agencies, school districts — would never have been possible if not for the mighty CORA law.

But the information gleaned for the public’s benefit through CORA requests comes with a price, too often, an unbearable one.

Colorado governments are allowed to charge as much as about $34 an hour to retrieve records for reporters, or anyone who asks for them.

For just relatively minor requests related to a few recent stories, the Sentinel paid nearly $1,000 for records needed to help shed light on a variety of issues the community has regularly deemed compelling.

The costs are often prohibitive.

Colorado Sun reporter Jesse Paul reportedly snarked to fellow Sun journalists last year when a CORA request he made for a story about inmate deaths and injuries generated an estimate of $245,000, according to a recent story by AP writer Jesse Bedayn about CORA costs and an effort to mitigate them for news media.

The push and pull over the power of journalists to compel information, and the reality that it takes some government employee real time to provide it, has been an issue since the law was created in 1969.

Governments across the state have consistently and successfully persuaded legislators that providing public information isn’t a core service of government, and at least part of the “costs” of searching for, reading, redacting and emailing records should be borne by the requester, often journalists.

But not always.

By design, anyone can use the CORA law to demand public records, and they do.

The act is notoriously used for political purposes to glean information used in an almost Spy-vs-Spy circus to cause embarrassment or discomfort among competing politicians or forces.

The law is also regularly used for outright business purposes, often uncovering all kinds of commercial leads kept by government agencies for unrelated purposes.

The feeling among most government officials and legislators — themselves sometimes stung by CORA demands of their own email — outed by political foes, is to charge them in an effort to discourage them. As a matter of “fairness,” journalists get charged and discouraged along the way.

So, for decades, the media and governments across the state have grumbled and groused at each other.

Now, some state lawmakers, sympathetic to the plight of news media, already under increasing economic difficulties, are proposing CORA “discounts” for reporters.

Essentially, legitimate reporters working for legitimate media might get half off the costs of record searches.

The very large problem is deciding what constitutes legitimate, state recognized, news gathering and news gatherers? Lots of political organs present themselves as journalism but are clearly partisans or simply wielding a political agenda. Are they, however, not journalists, too?

The thorny question of what constitutes “real” journalism practiced by “real” journalists becomes dangerous, especially when the information gatekeepers get to judge their questioners.

A better solution is to impose the $15-an-hour cap for everyone who asks, except for those who seek information for clearly commercial purposes.

In addition, certain records should be provided at no charge. Emails of elected and appointed officials, expense records and electronic court records should all be borne by the government as part of their responsibilities that taxpayers are already paying for. The very basics of accountability should always be included in the costs of the government doing business.

For the most part in Aurora, it is. The Sentinel regularly requests and receives, at no charge, police reports and all kinds of basic information from the city, schools, counties and other governments to ensure our factual reporting.

But we, too, are deeply burdened and limited in our reporting because of the costs governments want to charge us just to find out what you need to know.

While state lawmakers have yet to officially offer a bill to change the CORA law, it’s likely coming this session, according to Colorado Freedom of Information Council Executive Director Jeff Roberts.

If it allows the government to officially decide who practices real journalism and who doesn’t, you can probably count us out of supporting it.

If it reduces the cost for everyone who looks for information inside the government to provide accountability and transparency, regardless of the agenda, I’m in.

But just ignoring this growing problem makes winners out of those who seek to discourage transparency by overcharging for it.

Follow @EditorDavePerry on Mastadon, Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com

The post The price of open records in Colorado shouldn’t keep them closed appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

“I can’t immerse myself the same way you do. I respect what you do so much. But I can’t do what you do.”

It’s a hard truth to hear, and often, when I do, I’ll immediately jump to the conclusion that it’s a statement borne of privilege. 

But this time I was hearing it from someone I do care about. Catie (name changed) is someone who I know deeply cares about other people. Someone I know who recognizes she’s coming from a place of privilege. But she’s also coming from a place of deep empathy and a need to ration her emotional availability when it comes to dealing with all the struggle, pain and darkness this world has coursing in its veins.

It’s a struggle I do recognize in my own lack of balance. I live mired in all of it, and I know the toll it takes. I can’t begrudge her for doing what she needs to do to maintain a semblance of mental health.

And then I remembered an old Hebrew proverb from the “Pireki Avot” — loosely translated as the “Wisdom of our Fathers.”

“You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.”

I shared that proverb with her, which she hadn’t heard before. It seemed to resonate. 

And her statement resonated with me. 

I became a journalist because, in my heart, I’m a crusader. An idealist who sees the world as it is and wants to see it evolve into what it could be. I always think of that last line in the movie Se7en where Morgan Freeman’s voice over is heard: “Hemingway said, ‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I believe in the second part.”

That line stuck to my soul. 

In our discussion, Catie also admonished me for my very entrenched stance on what I see as people who display a moral failing. The people who continue to embrace the GOP as it exists today, in this particular conversation.

“You’re too hard on people,” she said. “You don’t know everyone’s story. You don’t know where they’re all coming from. How they were raised, what beliefs they have to have undone.”

Again, my defensiveness started to inch to the front, but I pushed it back, because it was coming from someone I know to be kind. Someone whose values I know align with mine. Someone who also sees the world as it could be one day. She leads with empathy and love. 

And I’ve spent the last several years leading with my jab.

Truth is, my expectations of my fellow man have fallen to criminally low levels. I struggle mightily with cynicism now. I know, rationally, there’s a potential for light in our future. But emotionally, I’m beset on all sides by the darkness I see encroaching every day.

And yet ultimately, she’s right.

The only way you can illuminate the darkness…

…Is with light.

The post “Pireki Avot” – the “Wisdom of our Fathers” | Duly Noted appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

In today’s marketplace, we have had recommendations to make changes to our format for bigger profits, cuz you know, “print is dead”. With the way some print vehicles are acting, they might just deserve to die— and this is coming from someone who loves print.

Anyway, here’s the latest round of advice being given to this Independent print media:

• Do what the “competitors” are doing, sell “advertorial” aka Native Advertising (cuz that’s a lot easier to sell than real journalism).
• Focus solely on digital to “keep up”
• Cut your circulation: stop mailing to homes because it costs too much and just throw a huge ole stack in racks and claim four readers per copy, like everyone else.
• Create a formula for the ads so it doesn’t cost so much to produce.
• Be Cheap.

This is actual advice we have gotten, but we think these pointers are from people concerned with the bottom line more than developing and engaging an actual audience.

The number one reason people buy is trust. Audiences aren’t stupid. Audiences are your wife, husband, neighbor, the teacher, the fireman, YOU.  

Right now “Native Advertising” is the hottest trend. Everyone is doing “it”. Sales are going bonkers. Jump on the gravy train right?

From my perspective, after 30 years in print media, I will quit the business before I sell one advertorial.

I simply do not want to be in publishing if that is the kind of publisher I am. I am an artist and I drank the Media Role & Responsibility Kool-aid. I know what my job is and it is to deliver an audience. Anything else I am just selling you space and not really delivering anything for it.

If it doesn’t have substance, it’s for show.  

Dangerous blend: how lines between editorial and advertising are blurring

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2018/03/01/is-native-advertising-sustainable-for-the-long-haul/#6e1f259c3733

When readers start in on one of these “articles”, they realize it’s selling them something, so they lose trust of the outlet. They turn the page (or scroll on by) because they feel tricked, leaving a negative impression of your brand instead of a positive one. At least print ads aren’t offensive and if done well they are newsworthy. Additionally, most content writers have little journalism experience. When was the last time you saw someone post “Wow! That cliffhanger on that infomercial I watched last night just kept me spellbound!”?

There is a reason NPR and HBO believe high production values matter.

In 1999 HBO launched The Sopranos. The premise was High-Production Values. Great screenwriting, great acting and great production that changed television forever. We are now in the Golden Era of TV.

At the same time, greedy Hollywood Executives decided remakes were the cheapest way to make movies, therefore big profits. All this was fine and dandy, at first. It was cool to see Spiderman in CGI. But after awhile we got Zoolander 2 and Bachelor 4. Audiences got bored and stopped going to the movies. In 2017 Hollywood hit an all time low in sales. Executives ignorantly blamed TV because we all got big screens and spend time streaming instead of going to their crappy movies.

Their problem is, it wasn’t the size of the screen. I am not going to watch crappy TV on a big screen anymore than a crappy movie. It is that TV is producing quality programs.

Along comes digital and print is now said to be dead. Mostly because the newspaper is dying on the vine. Why is the newspaper dying? It is because the 24 hour news cycle changed how we get information and personally I don’t think the newspaper should die. In fact I want to save it. BECAUSE THE WORLD NEEDS REAL JOURNALISM. However, if they go to Content Writing and refuse to adapt, they deserve to die too.

(My secret plan to save them: Stop printing daily-it is much too frequent, deliver for free, hire back real journalists and be Slow News. I want a million dollars for helping them.)

Since the onslaught of digital marketing (which is actually on a downward trend right now), media has become this crazy mix of jumping on the latest new thing, resulting in advertisers further exacerbating the Pray and Spray model that is so common among businesses desperately trying to make their advertising work. Ridiculously, digital and direct marketers are the ones promoting pray and spray by pushing the latest trends, all while pulling a Trump on us and stating brand marketing is the problem.

It’s not the platform that is your marketing strategy. The platform is how you execute that strategy. And too many businesses don’t have a real strategy for how they are going to grow or why the consumer will shop them, at least not in their messaging.

Bad advertising is one of the top reasons businesses fail.

And here is a little shocker. The HOT “new” trend of 2019 is Digital companies are investing in making print magazines and direct mailing them to homes. I just got my AirBnB Magazine in the mail the other day. Even more ironic, the online companies making these magazines are being rated on the quality of their content.

So let me get this straight. Digital companies are producing print magazines, direct mailing them, and are valuing real content presence, while traditional media is resorting to advertorials to sell advertising?

There is nothing more constant than the mailbox. We all know what we read from our mailbox is dependent on how interested we are in what is being delivered. In ALL communications, everything pivots around Interest.

Book sales are dramatically up. Millennials are reading twice as many books as boomers and digital companies are even turning to print. The Future of Digital is Print.

New apps like Augmented Reality are being developed for PRINT. Of all the trends out there, this is one we think has incredible promise. The marrying of digital and print!

The fact remains, 20 years after Google people are not reading books ormagazines or newspapers online. They read an article of interest or worst a headline and scream “Fake News”. We surf the web, we swim in print.

There are many reasons print is seeing this “comeback” (it never went away – it just changed). It is trusted more. You remember more. Scientific American has reported on studies that shows that reading in print creates 7x the recall of digital. It is high-touch vs high-tech. We linger on it. We like reading it. However, to engage an audience just like TV, movies or digital, print needs to be interesting. We don’t need 10 fashion magazines, we don’t need a newspaper everyday, it’s just too much saturation. We need it to be special.

YS has no shortage of readers. In fact, the nicest things we hear from readers are “It’s the only thing I look forward to in my mailbox.” and “You are like a national magazine on a local level.” (Shhhhhh…it’s because of journalism standards.) Our drivers tell us people will chase them down the street to get a copy because we run out so fast in stands. We don’t have a problem engaging readers. The hardest part about what we do is getting advertisers to realize we have this readership and why it matters to them.

YS could resort to the “tricks of the trade” and it would get us more advertisers. We don’t think it gets more readers though. People tune into NPR, not the infomercial.

We invest in our journalists, mail to homes directly, and equally important  the design of your messaging. A good ad has 7x the impact of a bad one. You know what makes an ad good?

The copywriting. It’s all about those writers.  If your story is boring, dry, and cookie cutter than you will lose the interest of the audience. Are you Charlie Brown’s teacher or Ted Talks?

Advertising is not magic. It is merely a form of communicating a sales message to your potential future customers. Most media outlets put the responsibility on the advertiser to produce the ad. Most media outlets have what we call production ads. Not crafted. They slap your logo on there with some bullet points. You might buy it because you think the advertising is cheap – but really it is the most expensive and wasteful advertising you can do. This is why along with being the only local publication that mails to homeowners, we are the only publication able to offer agency-quality, strategic branding and marketing.

Which of these spreads grabs you more? No, not all advertising is the same and not all print is the same.

What got YS to 19 years in business as a self-financed Independent media outlet, was not compromising journalism, design or distribution standards, but instead pushing ourselves more. To produce even higher quality, relevant content people enjoy reading. We actually help our customers with High Production Design and spend more to land it in the mailbox.

We would rather be smaller and make a little less profit than sell out the pages. This is how we will make it to 20 years in 2020.

You can learn more about the services Yellow House, our in house agency offers here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17IEyzw2jMjYvBnS9WqicatJQ9lHwei9hKRLTJHNBYtk/edit

Download our Media Kit and Marketing Guidebook: https://yellowscene.com/advertise

Watch our Marketing Seminar: http://www.youtube.com/c/YellowSceneMagazine

The post Your Native Advertising Sucks and Why Content is Still King appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

National Public Radio has been in the cross hairs of Washington, D.C., Republicans for years. Mostly this is because the venerable news organization used to do a decent job of reporting. Facts, you see, are toxic to the tea partiers because they tend to expose the blatant lies and shameless misinformation that is their stock in trade.

But in recent years, as the old cows at NPR have gotten comfortable with their insider status, access to power and weekly taste of fame as token members of the “liberal” media dissembling on the Sunday news shows, they have begun to suck. And not for the reasons you may think.

When I want a news fix, I don’t want people lying to me—blatantly, by omission or with intentional slant. I want facts, context, pertinent background and good journalism that come from solid reporting. And balance where it’s appropriate.

Balance doesn’t mean you give equal (or any) airtime to the Flat Earth Society just because they have something contrary to say about a story on the space shuttle. Reporting blatant lies and false information in the name of “balance” and “fairness” is shoddy journalism and does a disservice to your news consumers. How lame has NPR become? Here are a few examples:

1. Despite getting lots of miles reporting on the content of the leaked State Department cables, nothing has been reported about the ongoing torture of whistleblower Bradley Manning who leaked them.

2. In the nearly year-old aftermath of the Gulf spill, toxins still present in the water are making Gulf Coast residents deathly sick. What have you heard from NPR? Crickets. (Note to NPR: When Al Jazeera does a better job of reporting on this, it’s a sure sign you suck.)

3. The incessant parroting of the right-wing talking points—absent any relevant facts—about how we have to cut Social Security benefits, now, to fix the deficit, with no mention that Social Security is completely solvent through 2037. (Social Security can be easily paid for into the next century by eliminating the cap that only taxes earnings up to $106,000. If everyone making seven-digit and above incomes were taxed at the same rate as the guys repairing our roads, SS would be just fine.)

I could go on. But kissing up to the enemy—and the Republicans are the enemy of factual, reasonable, non-fear mongering discourse—and giving their BS equal play is no way to run a news organization. Hell, they couldn’t even muster a decent job of reporting on, and debunking, James O’Keefe’s video hatchet piece that helped fuel this crusade. They instead wet themselves as they fired anyone involved in hopes of appeasing the bully who was going to kick their ass regardless. So I’m fine with giving their government dole the axe.

I judge a quality news organization—and a quality reporter, for that matter—not by whom they are friends with. I judge it (or them) by whom they piss off with their scathing reporting of damning facts.

Ironically, the Republicans who are turning off the drip of federal dollars are now in control of the House largely because a fearful and ignorant electorate put them there. If anyone had a clue about the draconian agenda this TeaBagger brigade had in store, they would have never won so many seats. But with our “Public Radio” reporting team asleep at the wheel of the journalism bus, they are headed for the ditch along with the rest of us.

I say good riddance. There are plenty of other sources of quality news, both national and local. Maybe now NPR will realize kissing the hand that beats you is bad business and bad journalism.

The post Off the Air appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

They call her the Red Tornado.

She’s a fierce gust that never enters a room unnoticed, raising heart rates and blood pressure and leaving windblown those in her way. Her flash of red hair is more extension of personality than physical attribute. She’s unpredictable and unstoppable.

And I say that all with love.

I say it because that intensity built this magazine from the ground up with nothing but sweat equity, a few credit cards, and pure grit. I say it because Shavonne Blades, the owner and publisher of Yellow Scene Magazine, is perfectly aware of her whirlwind-like nature.

Ten years ago, she started a small newsletter that targeted the emerging market in Erie. Since then, it’s grown and evolved and gotten glossy. And as any media company would, this year we celebrate that 10-year landmark with self-glorifying brouhaha.

But first, you must meet the woman behind this magazine.

Before she started Yellow Scene, Shavonne spent decades in the media business—not as a journalist but selling, selling, selling. She is phenomenal at selling and a stud when it comes to advertising and marketing. “It’s ’cause I like winning,” she laughs. “I like turning a no to a yes. I mean, that’s cool. That’s artistic: turning nothing to something.”

In 2000, Shavonne played around with the idea of starting her own publication. She visited a few contacts in Louisville and Longmont and asked if they would consider advertising in a small publication. They all said yes, and she ended up overselling the first issue of The Goldmine—a coupon book printed on yellow paper. “I was really just horsing around. I mean, the first two issues I was really winging it,” she says. “But then, people were like, ‘I got response from that. Do another.’”

She did.

Shavonne realized there was potential in this publication, and it was worth an investment of time, money and energy. She and her young son moved into a small apartment, and she made ends meet by waiting tables and bartending.

“We were poor, poor, poor,” she says. “But I didn’t really realize it at the time.”

She added content and freelancers, focusing on local issues and events. She recruited friends to help. She hired an employee. And she was—as she is today—a force with which to be reckoned.

“You know, someone told me that in those days, people didn’t really know how to handle me,” she said. “I didn’t understand that then, but I do now.”

Ten years later, Shavonne finds herself and her continuously growing magazine in a place not necessarily defined by big paychecks or vacations in Mexico, but by a committed staff, a growing respect in the community and self awareness. I’m not talking about a crystals-and-burning-sage type of enlightenment, but a world view that is inspired by confronting and surmounting fear, sacrifice and loss. Success, she says, is creating a product that she takes pride in and having a team that works tirelessly because they love the magazine.

I ask her about success: how she grew a magazine when most pubs are struggling.

“It’s the same things that make people not like me,” she says. “I push. I never back off. I push. I never take no for an answer.”

She calls it her “God-damned unwillingness to give up.”

YS early team, l to r: Tracy Warner, Brian Ball, Shavonne Blades, Erik Maulbetsch, Debbie Wilmot, circa 2010

“I’ve had employees ask, ‘What happens if we don’t sell all the space?’” she says. “I’m like, ‘No! No! You are fired for even asking that.’ Not selling is not an answer.”

That attitude is a constant within this office: No is not an answer, coming up short is not an option.

This year, we celebrate our 10-year anniversary and the one-woman-show that grew this publication from 4,000 copies in Erie in 2000 to 70,000 copies throughout Boulder County and the North Metro area today.

We also prepare for the next 10 years—because Shavonne says this is just the beginning. And we just can’t tell her no.

Shavonne and Erie’s Redhat Ladies

Halloween at the YS office, Briggs St, Erie CO, circa: 2010

The post Turning Ten appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

When the federal government buoyed GM and Chrysler, in newsrooms across the country, reporters and editors thought to themselves, “What about us?”

Furloughed and tired of lay offs, journalists are in a winter of great discontent and hopeless incredulity, especially at floundering newspapers, where large, publicly traded companies reign and profit margins dictate.

It’s not uncommon these days to find journalists commiserating together, talking about job prospects, the latest round of lay-offs, news of papers dying and great writers and photographers turning to some other profession. For those lucky enough to have a job in the industry, there is a hushed sense of providence. Then we talk about the future, and we discuss “monetizing the web” and “the reemergence of a societal love for journalism.” We know there is a destination for journalism; we just don’t know the path.
We even joke about a bailout.

President Obama, without firmly committing, hinted in September that he might think about some sort of bailout to media conglomerates. “If you’re getting your newspaper over the Internet, that’s not free and there’s got to be a way to find a business model that supports that,” he told the Toledo Blade.

It’s true—the push to get readers online has all but killed newspapers (as well as profit margins and the downfall of the classifieds section in lieu of Craigslist). We are crafters of our own dystopia.

However, Congress and the Obama administration would be wrong to bail out this industry. As a former newspaper reporter and editor and a current print journalist, you might think it odd that I would oppose something that could save my industry. But I’m a firm believer that this trade has to save itself.

In the 1980s, many newspapers blossomed and bloated in an economy that supported print advertising in the pre-Internet world. Many papers filled themselves with crap—features that did not engage or entertain or educate or give context to the news of this crazy world. Companies learned they could spread their journalists thin and make their stories even thinner. They could suck a newsroom and newspaper dry and profits would still grow.

Not all but many newspapers have not progressed. They have not innovated. They have not evolved. And readers have noticed.

If nothing else, this economy and the current struggles of the newspaper industry will allow them (force them) to trim the fat and begin to figure out what readers want and need—not just cutting expenses but looking at ways to increase readership. Instead of letting MBAs run our media companies and allowing the bottom line to dictate our headlines, we must inspire the nostalgie de la journalisme and create smart, engaging publications that reflect and motivate our readership and our communities. We must allow journalists to do their jobs: reporting and writing and bringing truth, context and distraction to their readers, as opposed to updating the website every hour.

The Internet is not going to kill print, but it’s going to separate the men from the mice. Some will adapt, creating unique, entertaining content for their pages, making the publication valuable. The mice will continue along the current path and will die out (if they have not already).

And let’s not even ponder the ethical implications of bailing out the so-called watchdogs of the American government and global corporations—the Fifth Estate.
Let’s instead dream of a different time, a once and future land filled with Pulitzer wishes come true. And we as journalists, media companies (even this small and humble one) and media consumers must not just dream and talk but begin to find our way to that paradise without the help of a governmental bailout.

The post Mind the Gap appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.