‘Live from Milan’: CSUF sudents report from the Winter Olympics ...Middle East

Last month, 22 Cal State Fullerton communications students traveled to Milan, Italy, for an immersive journalism experience covering the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Led by associate professor of communications Gayle Jansen Brisbane, it was the university’s second such trip after 26 students went to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. The success of the Paris trip helped secure support from the university to send another group to Milan and Cortina.

As with the trip to France, Jansen Brisbane, a former sports broadcaster with 20 years of experience in television news, was joined by visiting professor Bob Young, a journalism faculty associate at Arizona State University and former sports writer for the Arizona Republic.

Although the trip took place during the spring semester, it drew strong interest, with nearly 60 students applying for 22 spots. Jansen Brisbane said students pursuing CSUF’s sports media certificate received priority.

“We emphasized ones that were really interested in sports media and that also had a variety of skill sets in social media, digital and broadcast,” Jansen Brisbane said.

During the nearly three-week trip, students completed one or more courses, including multimedia journalism, sports broadcast journalism and digital reporting. Jansen Brisbane structured the stay to include both host cities, allowing students to be in Milan, where indoor events such as figure skating and ice hockey were held, as well as in the mountain resort town of Cortina in northern Italy’s Dolomites, where snow-based events such as alpine skiing, luge and skeleton were held.

While in Italy, the students produced a number of digital and broadcast packages, social media campaigns and editorial stories that shared insight into the cities, people and culture surrounding the Games. The students were not granted Olympic media credentials, so the challenge was to find creative ways of storytelling.

“I told them, you need to find the stories that are not right in front of you,” Jansen Brisbane said. “You’ve got to dig and you’ve got to tell the stories of what’s happening in the city and how it’s affecting the city. … As they got there and they started getting to know the city and talking to people, then the stories just really flowed.”

As part of their Olympic experience, the students produced “Live from Milan” in partnership with Titan TV on Feb. 20, marking the first international broadcast for CSUF’s student-run channel.

From in front of the Politecnico di Milano, the students introduced several packages they produced, including pieces on Italian food and culture, the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena and the picturesque town of Cortina.

Back on campus, communications students Jayden Fernandez and Sergio Gonzalez, both of whom attended the Paris trip, hosted the show from the Titan TV news desk.

“It’s pretty unprecedented for universities to send cohorts of 20 students to cover the Olympics halfway across the globe,” said Jason M. Shepard, dean of the College of Communications, “and so the opportunities that this gives to them is life-changing.”

In Milan, senior Sophia Marine, shared her package in which she interviewed hip-hop artist Flavor Flav, who attended the Games as the official hype man and sponsor for the U.S. bobsled and skeleton teams. Marine also highlighted how the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has become an advocate for female athletes, including reintroducing his song with Public Enemy, “He Got Game,” into “She Got Game.”

Marine, who will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a sports media certificate, has a passion for social media content creation and photography with the goal of working in sports media. The opportunity to participate in this trip provided practical experience and strengthened her decision to pursue a career in the field.

“I wouldn’t change this experience for the world,” Marine said. “It was just such an awesome experience, and I’m grateful that Cal State Fullerton and (Jansen Brisbane) even put on this program for us.”

Another package featured during the live show was by student David Martinez, who interviewed Jordan Mendoza, a CSUF Daily Titan alumnus who was in Milan covering Olympic figure skating for USA Today. The piece served as an example of the professional opportunities available to students in CSUF’s communications program.

“Learning really occurs through hands-on opportunities like through programs like these,” Shepard said. “This is a place where they are really developing their multimedia skills in so many ways. It really is a world-class opportunity.”

For many students, including Marine, traveling to Milan was their first trip abroad. Despite the cold weather and the Games’ spread-out venues, the students embraced all the experience had to offer. Jansen Brisbane is already looking ahead to LA28 and how CSUF can continue providing these opportunities to communications students.

“It’s a big thing when you’re trying to make your own mark and the university is also helping you do that at the same time,” Marine said. “I’m just grateful for the professors, the school and this opportunity.”

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