From rebounds to research: Former sports journalist Gayle Jansen Brisbane pursues journalism PhD
Gayle Jansen Brisbane is swapping one dream job for another. The CMCI PhD candidate spent two decades working as a television sports journalist before coming to Boulder. She’s reported live from most of the biggest sports events in the country, including the World Series and Super Bowl. She calls sports stars like NBA great Charles Barkley and NFL superstar Larry Fitzgerald friends.
Her love for sports began as a young girl growing up in southern California witnessing the glory days of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dodgers, when they battled for a pennant every few years. She graduated from Pepperdine University with a BA in communications and stayed in Malibu, working on campus for few years after graduating.
After a two-year stint as a marketing assistant with the LA Clippers, she broke into the sports media field in the mid-1990s, when there were few female role models. “As a woman you have to work twice as hard as your male colleagues,” she said. “If you make the slightest mistake, then people instantly assume that you must not know anything about sports. You have to fight for credibility within the profession.”
Brisbane with her family.
She spent 16 years at FOX 10 in Phoenix and four years in Oregon as a sports anchor/reporter. She also hosted a national outdoor series for the Outdoor Life Network, called Great Hikes.
Brisbane’s move to academia came a few years after becoming a mother to identical triplet daughters. “Being a sportscaster was my dream job. But it involved a lot of personal sacrifice. After 20 years of working nights, weekends and holidays, I needed a plan B that was more conducive to being a mom.” She enjoyed mentoring the sports interns who came through her television stations and often gave guest lectures at Arizona State University, so a second career in higher education excited her.
Brisbane moved her family to Colorado in 2015 and became part of CU’s first Journalism PhD cohort. She drew on her sports media background for her early research focusing on gender and sports media. Her dissertation involves Christianity, politics and the media.
Few people would take on a strenuous doctoral program with three young children at home, but Brisbane has always been up for a challenge and an adventure. Her journeys have included running a marathon in Monaco and summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. She’s bringing that same passion and energy to a career in teaching and inspiring others to follow their dreams.