MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —May’s episode of Middle Tennessee State University‘s “Out of the Blue” television magazine show spotlights Sidelines, the university’s student-run media platform, as it celebrates 100 years of service to campus.

Originally a printed newspaper, Sidelines has evolved into a news website and email newsletter while remaining true to its mission as a student-led news organization.

Editor-in-Chief Noah McLane and Managing Editor Jenene Grover stopped by the “Out of the Blue” studios to talk about the beloved campus news organization and what opportunities students have each semester to gain invaluable hands-on news experience in a profession and industry that has changed greatly over the past century.

“We have about 40 staffers right now, which is a good size,” McLane said. “This semester alone, we’ve run over 250 stories. We love to follow things, we do sports, we do features, we do breaking news; it’s a lot of fun.”

Watch the full segment below with host Andrew Oppmann, vice president of the university’s Division of Marketing and Communications.

McLane and Grover said they are thrilled to work in leadership roles with Sidelines during such a milestone anniversary.

“We’re getting to do the really cool work and meet a lot of alumni. I think, this semester and,(as we) look back at all of our archives and see the kinds of stories Sidelines has always covered (and) how it’s evolved over the years is going to be really cool,” said Grover.

McLane said the opportunities the Sidelines staff get are unmatched.

“You get so many skills working with Sidelines. I mean, it is not just journalism majors who come in,” said McLane. “Interviewing skills, researching skills, just talking to people in general, something great you can learn from Sidelines.”

Sidelines recently attended the College Media Association Conference in New York City, where they won social media and feature photography awards. They also earned awards at the Southeastern Journalism Conference in Mississippi for best journalist of the year.

To sign up for Sidelines’ weekly newsletter, click here. To read the latest news from Sidelines, visit https://mtsusidelines.com/.

“Out of the Blue” is available anytime on the university’s YouTube channel, the True Blue TV channel, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. It also airs on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 daily at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; NewsChannel5+ at 6:30 p.m. Sundays; and streamed on the MTSU Jazz Network through WMOT.org at 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month. It is also available on other cable outlets in Middle Tennessee, so check local listings. 

It is also available as a podcast on iTunes and Google Play and as individual interview segments on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/453hxg3. 

Watch previous episodes of “Out of the Blue” at https://mtsunews.com/out-of-the-blue.

—   DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)