This summer, a group of Cal State Fullerton students will experience a study abroad trip of a lifetime as 26 Titans from the College of Communications head to Paris to cover the 2024 Summer Olympics.
From print stories and news packages to social media posts and daily blogs, these broadcast journalism students will be getting a front-row seat to what it’s like to cover the world’s biggest sporting event.
The group will be led by CSUF Department of Communications assistant professor Gayle Jansen Brisbane. A former sports broadcaster, Brisbane brings 20 years of experience in television news, including 16 years at KSAZ-TV Fox 10 in Phoenix. She will be joined on the trip by visiting professor Bob Young, a journalism faculty associate at Arizona State University and former sports writer for the Arizona Republic.
Students on the 22-day trip will complete two courses, one in sports broadcast journalism and one in sports reporting, which will expose them to both the video/news side and print side of sports media coverage. For many of the students, the classes will be applied toward earning CSUF’s Sports Media Certificate. A new offering within the Department of Communications, the certificate will provide hands-on opportunities for Titan students who are interested in a career in sports media.
“In sports right now, with the addition and the technology of live streaming, it is opening doors, and there are so many more options out there,” Brisbane said. “The fact that we have now this specialized Sports Media Certificate, I think increases our ability to help our students realize their dreams.”
The 26 students were selected by Brisbane from a group of applicants and will work in teams to develop a content calendar with story ideas that cover a range of Olympic topics, including Orange County athletes and coaches, the fan experience and local Parisian culture. While they will likely not have full media access to practices or games, many will be conducting research and interviews prior to heading to Paris and will add some local footage and flair once arriving in France. In addition to posting daily social media content and blogs, the students will pitch their print stories and news packages to local SoCal media outlets for publication.
One of the attendees is third-year Titan student Lina Naranjo. A member of Titan TV and set to graduate in spring 2025, Naranjo is majoring in communications with an emphasis in broadcast journalism and is working toward a career as an entertainment reporter.
Naranjo has already completed an interview with American rower Kara Kohler and is developing some cultural entertainment story topics. Additionally, she is part of the student team that handles CSUF’s social media and podcast content and is looking forward to capturing Olympic moments through those channels as well.
“I think it will be a good opportunity for me to meet new people, see different cultures, expand on my communication skills and get out of my comfort zone a little bit,” Naranjo said. “I’m really looking forward to making as many connections as I can. … I want to improve on my editing skills too, my time management skills … and just become more independent.”
Fifth year student Robbie Loya is finishing his degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism and was asked by Brisbane to serve as one of the student executive producers for the study-abroad program. He will help oversee all of the written stories and video work produced by the student team.
Thanks to CSUF, Loya already has an extensive resume of sports broadcasting experience that he will be bringing to Paris. As a play-by-play broadcaster for CSUF and UC Irvine, he has reported more than 100 Division 1 games on ESPN+. He also recently secured a broadcasting position with the Lake Elsinore Storm, the Single-A minor league affiliate for the San Diego Padres. Despite his full schedule, he knew this was an opportunity he could not pass up.
“I think it shows what Cal State Fullerton is all about and that their goal is to give us opportunity,” Loya said. “The saying goes, what does it mean to be a Titan? And for us, it’s to achieve the unachievable … and I think our students have certainly done that with this huge opportunity.”
Brisbane will be pushing her students to produce high-quality content, and she is hopeful that study-abroad trips like this, along with the Sports Media Certificate, Titan TV and the Titan Sports Network partnership with the Big West Conference and ESPN+ will make CSUF a premier destination for those pursuing a career in sports journalism.
“I think that doing any kind of study abroad is just such an amazing, life-changing cultural experience for students,” Brisbane said. “I hope that it unlocks their drive and their curiosity for the sports media industry and really provides some inspiration for them to just really go for it.”
