ST. PAUL — The 2026 legislative session is underway in St. Paul, and the second year of the Report for Minnesota legislative reporting project is also up and running.
KAXE is once again one of the Greater Minnesota news outlets working with the student intern program at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Four reporters and one photographer are producing weekly news stories, intended to fill coverage gaps in local news across the state. The Minnesota Journalism Center at the U is also helping lead the program.
This year's interns are Abbey Mulcahy, Kendra Mobilia, Shay Scanlan and Eleanor Steffen. They are guided by longtime former MPR News Political Editor Mike Mulcahy. New this year, intern Karina Kafka is producing photojournalism and is mentored by Glenn Stubbe, former political photographer for the Star Tribune.
Their work will be shared on our website and featured in the Up North Report. The reporters will also break down their stories for us weekly in a KAXE Morning Show segment, which you can also find in the Up North Report podcast feed (subscribe wherever you listen!).
Abbey Mulcahy (no relation to Mike!) is a junior studying journalism and English. She grew up in Maple Grove but moved to Minneapolis for school. She also writes for The Minnesota Daily as an arts and entertainment reporter. Her favorite stories to write are those that highlight overlooked corners of a community, she said.
Beyond journalism, Abbey enjoys walking her dogs, attending local theater performances and spending the weekend camping. She hopes to continue reporting throughout Minnesota after graduation, and said she's excited by the challenge of covering a different topic than her usual gig at the Daily.
"Since we are on the younger side of things, what's going on right now at the Capitol is going to have great effects on us now, and us in the future," Abbey said on the KAXE Morning Show. "Especially being students, everyone's thinking about loans, they're thinking about their futures. And so we're at kind of a precarious point in our lives, where things go any which way. So I think the legislation that's going on just feels really personal in some ways, too."
"It's important for young people to be engaged in the news, because it's older people making decisions now, but soon it's going to be us."Shay Scanlan, Report for Minnesota student intern
Mobilia is from Duluth and is a junior studying journalism. When she is not writing and reporting, Mobilia enjoys crocheting and spending time with her family and friends, especially her miniature dachshund Charli. After graduation, she said she hopes to stay in the Twin Cities to report on politics and continue to follow her passion of writing.
Mobilia said reporting on the Legislature differs from most of the reporting she's done so far on campus, interviewing students, staff and professors.
"A lot of people our age kind of think that we might not have as much a voice, or people don't understand us as much, just because we're younger," Mobilia said. "I think this has an impact, because we're able to see it through the lens of a younger person and not someone who's 20, 30, 40 years older than us."
Scanlan, from St. Paul, is a senior studying journalism. Scanlan writes for The Minnesota Daily as a city desk reporter and said she is passionate about political and community-based reporting. Upon graduating, Scanlan is aiming to continue writing throughout Minnesota and advancing in her reporting career.
Outside of journalism, Scanlan likes seeing local music, walking around Minneapolis lakes, and hanging out with her family and friends.
Scanlan said Report for Minnesota is giving her the opportunity to write for a wider audience and learn how to incorporate more perspectives into her work. She said she wants to make her work accessible to all kinds of readers.
"I think that's part of the power of maybe coming into this as a younger person and not knowing quite as much, because you have to do your own research and you to understand ... somebody might not know that word," Scanlan said. "It's important for young people to be engaged in the news, because it's older people making decisions now, but soon it's going to be us."
Steffen is a senior journalism student from Rhinelander, Wisconsin. She has written previously for the Hubbard Reporting Experience and said she most enjoys civic journalism and feature writing. After she graduates this coming May, Steffen said she hopes to stay in the Twin Cities and continue pursuing community-based reporting opportunities.
Aside from journalism and writing, Steffen loves watching movies with her roommates, thrifting with her sister and camping in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
As someone who grew up in a rural area, Steffen said she was interested in writing stories that would be published in areas where news deserts are reducing people's access to local journalism and information.
"Having more of a rural perspective, I know what people might be more interested in, or what people might know more about or want to know more about," Steffen said. " ... Coming from somewhere a little bit smaller, I know what my parents and my aunt and uncle and grandparents would want to read. So I'll be adopting that mentality more."
