Campus Editor Mila Murray and Copy Editor McKenna Ross introduced the idea to begin this series. By working with Multimedia Staff Advisor Abby Heckel to produce it, their aim is to provide a brief overview of news, but to also take a behind-the-scenes look into reporters' coverage.

“We just get to see the story of the story — how they came across the idea, how they found their sources, what it meant to talk to them and any challenges they may have faced in their reporting,” Ross said. “It’s transparent with our audience, and that's really important." 

By adding this consistent multimedia component to The State News, Murray and Ross hope to reach a larger audience. 

“It’s important to have a lot of different platforms to communicate with our audience. We’ve never had a platform like this," Murray said. “Podcasts are a more popular medium that people are using and in order to get to those audiences, we need to adapt to that." 

The first episode, “Survivors," reflected upon the one-year anniversary of the Larry Nassar sentencing, and the survivors who continue to work towards accountability and reform. Murray and Ross spoke with State News reporters who contributed stories in The State News' "Brave Women" edition.

In the coming weeks, SNEWSCAST will cover a wide-range of topics. The goal is to have segments dedicated to campus stories, sports and East Lansing-related news. Murray, Ross, and Heckel will continue to release the series weekly on Monday afternoons. 

“The State News has a really unique perspective because we are a student-run newspaper," Murray said. "We are Michigan State University's independent student voice."