Traveling Miles

WUFT: Naked Motorcyclist Arrested for DUI

'The Alligator' writes up Gitmo trip

The Alligator had an article about our trip to Guantanamo Bay in their September 16th edition.

Two UF students report 

from Guantanamo Bay

By STEVE JOHNSON, Alligator Writer

After President Barack Obama announced the impending closure of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, two UF student journalists decided to tell its story.

Telecommunications majors Miles Doran, 21, and Patrick Fleming, 25, made the three-hour journey on a twin-engine Air Sunshine plane Sept. 7 and returned Sept. 10 with hours of video, hundreds of photos and an idea of what it's like to be considered one of the world's most dangerous people... CONTINUE READING

WUFT/ABC News: Guantanamo Bay 9/11 Anniversary

After logging and writing on the drive up from Ft. Lauderdale Thursday, our first piece from Guantanamo Bay aired on September 11th on WUFT. You can watch it below.

Earlier that day, ABC News took the same piece and ran it on their early morning program, World News Now. Click below to see that version.

First Day in Guantanamo Bay

After a three-hour flight aboard an Air Sunshine E-110, we landed in Guantanamo Bay at about 5:30pm. Passengers on the flight included other media representatives (WJXT’s Bruce Hamilton and an Israeli TV journalist), a guard from Camp 6, a lawyer, a translator, and contract workers. JTF (Joint Task Force) GITMO Public Affairs Officer Lt. Cody Starken, 25 years old, met us at the airport. He is member of the Florida National Guard and grew up in the Cape Canaveral area.

The coastline is rocky and mountainous. The weather was warm, humid, and overcast. The airport runway juts out near the entrance of the bay. The airport was a relatively quiet place. We, along with the 13-or-so other passengers were escorted into a giant hanger where our entry clearance forms and passports were checked. Then all of our bags were put through an x-ray machine and we walked through a metal detector. We didn’t even get screened at Ft. Lauderdale International Airport.

Off to Guantanamo Bay

It took six months of planning, but we're finally off to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Patrick Fleming and I are flying down this afternoon to spend a few days shooting a couple stories at the detention facilities at the U.S. Naval Base. We return to Florida on Thursday.

The stories will air on the University of Florida's PBS station, WUFT-TV. I'd like to thank the station and the College of Journalism & Communications for financing the trip. Needless to say, we're both excited to be traveling to Cuba and we're looking forward to bringing back a few good stories.

This will be an interesting time to visit GITMO for a few reasons. First, President Obama wants the detention facilities shut down by January. Whether that's going to happen in time or happen at all is a major point of discussion. Not to mention what will happen to the detainees.