Emmy-Winning Belizean-American Anchor Kendis Gibson Touches Down in Jewel
Acclaimed Belizean-American journalist Kendis Gibson, an Emmy Award winning reporter and anchor for ABC, is visiting the Jewel for the first time in over ten years. Gibson’s jaunt is equal parts vacation and work, as his stay is also being documented for a feature to be aired at a later date on ABC News. He was among the first reporters on the scene following the September eleventh attacks in New York City, back in 2001. Soon after, Gibson joined CNN Headline News as an entertainment anchor, covering the Academy Awards, as well as the Grammy. Gibson left Belize City at the age of eleven. And while here, he will be traveling to Burrell Boom Village and San Pedro. We caught up with him upon his arrival at the P.G.I.A.
Kendis Gibson, News Anchor
“This is great. This is great. So, sadly it’s really short because right now is what we call ratings month where, you know, we’re trying to get viewers in. So to be able to get time off during May is really, really difficult but this is the only month that my mom picked to be here. So it’s action packed, we’re going to spend some time up in Boom. We’re gonna head to San Pedro and do a sunset cruise tomorrow. I’ve never been to San Pedro. One of the things like when we were growing up in Belize, I hope it’s changed but, we didn’t get to go to the cayes that often and so this is like very cool coming back as an adult and being able to do that. And some conch fritters. Those are my list of agendas.”
Kendis Gibson
Isani Cayetano
“Talk to us a bit about your professional life, in terms of your achievements as a journalist.”
Kendis Gibson
“It’s been a fun road and a fun ride. When I left here I had no idea that I wanted to get into TV news and one of my brothers used to watch TV news a lot and that really got me interested in it and immediately I started going to school for journalism and that just went from one thing to the other where I started out in a small market like most people do in the U.S. You start in a small town and then you head to bigger markets from that point, and I got quick success where, you know, after 9/11 and working for NBC and being in New York and being there and seeing the towers come down I was like alright, I’m burnt out. No more news. And I wanted to get into entertainment and I went to CNN and was lucky enough to do entertainment reporting for a few years and meet all of the stars of today. I’ve been at ABC now for two and a half years. I’ve been doing this early morning newscast for going on two years now and I have another year and a half on my contract and I’m enjoying what we do, despite the hours. It is a great show, we get to act the fool, you get to do serious news and at the end of the day ABC has thousands of thousands of employees and they only have twelve people who anchor the news at this national network and I am one of those twelve. And there are only five of them who do that daily newscast and I am one of those five and that’s kind of like one of those things where you pinch yourself and just go, alright, this is great. I’m good right now.”
This afternoon, I sat with Gibson for an extended interview, which will be aired on Open Your Eyes on Tuesday.
