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Trinidad Travels: Six degrees of separation — Oklahoma style

Tiffany Gibson — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:12:35 +0000

One reason I’m blogging from the IPI World Congress seems to be how many Oklahoma connections I can find. Here’s a doozy. I had lunch today with Ezra Fieser, an American freelance journalist now living in the Dominican Republic with his wife and nearly 4-year-old daughter. I told him I was from Oklahoma City, and he told me he graduated from Emerson College in Boston in 2000. His classmate? Sam Presti, general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Surprise? Nope, just another crazy Oklahoma connection.

– Yvette Walker

Tweets from International Press Institute convention

Tiffany Gibson — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 16:17:56 +0000

NewsOK Editor Yvette Walker has been blogging from the International Press Institute in Trinidad. Follow tweets from the convention below.

Trinidad travels: An incredible sightseeing tour

Tiffany Gibson — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 16:04:28 +0000

My host group arranged for a tour of Trinidad today, and while I can’t post photos now (the wi-fi has been difficult) trust me when I say the island is incredibly beautiful, diverse and unusual.The beautiful: We went up into the mountains, very high, with an elevation of more than 2,000 feet. My ears popped on the way up. The winding streets that climb higher and higher are trusted mostly to old Toyota trucks (you see them everywhere). Farmers live up here, and plant chives, tomatoes, cabbages, banana and plantain trees and other fruits and vegetable on steep, verticle plots of land — terraced plots cut into the mountainside. So steep, it’s amazing they can cultivate this land, and they do it without ropes our climbing apparatus, we were told.

We went to the fourth highest peak, where on a clear day you can see Venezuela, only seven miles away.

The diverse: The city of Port-of-Spain is populated with people of African descent, but the city is a port city and brings lots of different people here. Also the natural gas industry here is one of the major industries, bringing people from around the world.

The unusual: Native people love Kentucky Fried Chicken. There are 42 KFCs on this island alone, and I’m told sales are highest here than in anywhere else in the world. I can’t confirm that now, but it’s a fun factoid.

– Yvette Walker

Day two in Trinidad

Tiffany Gibson — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:24:38 +0000

I arrived in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Wednesday night after 13 hours of travel, I was happy to arrive at the Hyatt Regency, check in and go to bed.

The hotel is American-style Caribbean luxury, with American outlets, American channels on the television and English spoken everywhere. Still there is very much a Caribbean flavor to the decor and to the hotel. At the breakfast buffet, nestled beside the scramble eggs and the bacon was an unfamiliar breadlike concoction and also spicy sauces.

International Press Institute Executive Director Alison Bethel and her group arrived here days ahead of the World Congress to make sure everything is ready. It’s the first year the IPI has held the World Congress in the Caribbean.

Bethel said the group’s membership has been calling for this location, and she said it makes sense to shine a light on this part of the world.

The most dangerous places for journalists to do their job is in Latin America, led by Mexico and Honduras. This is a perfect time to have it here, have a chance to engage the Caribbean, which is often ignored when you talk about press freedom and journalism ethics.”

- Yvette Walker

Trinidad travels: Thunder Up — Miami style

Tiffany Gibson — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 21:09:42 +0000

While connecting in Miami to my final destination of Trinidad, I figured I would make some Thunder connections. I was stuck in the airport and couldn’t get outside, however. I didn’t see anybody in Thunder blue, but on the jetway I announced to a friendly runway worker that I was from Oklahoma City.

He groaned. A true Heat fan. And then he said, smiling, “Are you going to watch them lose?”

“That last game was tough,” I answered. “But they are young, they could come back.”

“I know, they are so young and so talented!” he said, referring to player Kevin Durant. “I wish I was 23 again!”

Another woman on her way to St. Croix said she, too, was from OKC and quickly headed for her gate.

Thunder Up!” she said down the terminal.

- Yvette Walker

Photo by Bryan Terry: Oklahoma City’s Lazar Hayward, left, Royal Ivey, Cole Aldrich, and Reggie Jackson wait for the start of a practice before Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena, Monday, June 18, 2012.

Off to Trinidad to defend press freedom

Tiffany Gibson — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:42:00 +0000

Telling people you are going to Port of Spain can be confusing. No, I’m not headed to Spain, I’m going to Trinidad. The International Press Institute is holding its World Congress there beginning Sunday and I’ll be on a panel about Ethics and Social Media.

So, off to Port of Spain, Trinidad. I’m leaving a few days early to take advantage of a little sun and fun, and who wouldn’t? Over the next few days I’ll be blogging about the country and the conference.

Yvette Walker

Trinidad and its sister island, Tobago, is just north of the northern tip of South America in the North Atlantic Ocean. It’s closer to Venezuela than to Jamaica or even Puerto Rico, but it’s still considered part of the Caribbean. Its working press are members of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers.

It’s proximity to South America is important because certain South American countries are repressive in press freedom rights. Venezuela is ranked 117th of 179 countries on the press freedom index. Honduras, one of the worst countries for press freedom, is 136th.

By comparison, the United States is ranked 47th (dropping because of the Occupy protests). Finland is at the top of the list.

Wesley Gibbings, the president of the Caribbean Media Workers, said the World Congress will help the group shine a light on its work.

“Though we have generally escaped the worst impacts of impunity, violence and official aggression, Caribbean social communicators and journalists have not eluded the potentially muting impacts of self- censorship, unenlightened regulation and challenging economic, social and political circumstances. ”

The IPI has defended press freedom for more than 60 years. It holds a World Congress every year. Alison Bethel, executive director of the IPI, said in a statement: “The three-day IPI World Congress will examine the many challenges, concerns and opportunities facing the media not only in the Caribbean, but also in the rest of the Americas and around the globe.”

Come back for more reports from Trinidad and my travels there.

- Yvette Walker