The mission of Middle Tennessee News is to provide news and educational broadcasting to Middle Tennessee State University and residents within the broadcast area. We cover 7 counties, Bedford County, Cannon County, Coffee County, DeKalb County, Rutherford County, Warren County, and Wilson County. All media is produced at Middle Tennessee State University, School of Journalism and Strategic Media. Students produce and anchor newscasts twice a week on Monday and Wednesday and contribute to the website. MTSU students serve as managers under the supervision of award-winning faculty and receive grades for their contribution to the news product. This teaching environment gives students a professional hands-on experience. Our newscast streams live to our website every Monday and Wednesday night at 4:00.
Students participate in the newsroom
by taking any of these contributing classes:
Video Storytelling - JOUR 3332 with Dan Eschenfelder
Television News Producing - JOUR 3720 with Christina Eschenfelder
Quality news, where you want it, when you want it.
Students also produce a 30-minute weekly sports show: Blue Raider Extra Point. The show airs Saturday mornings at 10:30 during football season, leading up to kickoff at 11:00. It focuses on CUSA and Blue Raider sports. The show airs on True Blue TV - Comcast Xfinity channel 9 and the Roku app in the Nashville market. All content is entirely produced by MTSU students and managed by faculty.
MTN Sports also livestreamed men's and women's Tennis to Conference USA.TV thanks to the Adam's Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro. It is a mobile production setup with two commentators calling the game play-by-play and sideline reporters reporting the action. We were the only school to cover all indoor and outdoor home matches involving over one dozen commentators. We reach over 300 viewers each match, including international viewers.
Awards
Middle Tennessee News has been recognized for multiple awards since 2019.
Faculty and Staff
News Director
Dan Eschenfelder
M.A. Literature, Middle Tennessee State University
B.S. Mass Communications, Southern Illinois University
Faculty News Manager
Dr. Christine Eschenfelder
Christine.Eschenfelder@mtsu.edu
Ph.D. Journalism, University of Florida
M.A. Journalism, University of Memphis
B.S. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Faculty News Manager
Dr. Chris Bacon
Ph.D. Journalism, University of Kansas
M.A. Journalism, University of Illinois
B.S. Communications, Murray State University
Student Managers
Producers
Mickey Sandlin 2024- Present
Digital Content Managers
Marcus Rosario 2026 - Present
Assignment Managers
Mickey Sandlin 2024 - Present
Marcus Rosario 2026 - Present
Jacob Burgess 2025 - Present
Production Manager
Matthew Perry 2026- Present
Sports Director
Jacob Burgess 2025 - Present