View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Publishers
  2. Broadcast Journalism
May 16, 2016updated 25 May 2016 9:13am

Tributes to Channel 4 foreign affairs producer Sarah Corp who has died aged 41

By Freddy Mayhew

 

Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow and colleagues have led tributes to senior foreign affairs producer Sarah Corp, behind the programme’s coverage of the conflicts in Libya, Egypt, and Iraq, who has died from cancer aged 41.

“You may not have seen her on screen,” said Snow in a special four-minute broadcast shown last night after the news. “But she was ever present behind the camera on most of our big foreign reports.”

He added: “If Channel 4 News’ foreign coverage stands out, it is in very strong measure down to the work of Sarah Corp.

“From 9/11 onwards Sarah was there. She was there for the invasion of Iraq. She came in with British forces from Kuwait. She was there for the Haiti earthquake, a searing experience.”

Presenter Krishnan Guru-Murphy described Corp as “an irreplaceable presence in so many parts of the world from which we reported”. He said: “It’s been a deeply personal loss for us here on the programme but it’s a serious loss too, to our journalism”.

International editor Lindsey Hilsum, who worked with Corp on reports from the frontline as the Arab Spring revolt took hold in Libya, said Corp “was the one who held us all together”.

Sarah Corp 6

 

She said: “In Libya, at the beginning of the revolution, we would go up to the frontline every day. I always wanted to push ahead and go a little but further but a little part of me didn’t want to because I was afraid. Sarah was the person who always said ‘no, we go this far and no further’.

“At the same time as understanding the story – she was highly intellectual – Sarah was also very practical. She made sure that we had something to eat, somewhere to sleep; even if it was a burned out building.”

She added: “When I would always be thinking about what I’m doing today – ‘what’s the story today?’ – she was one step ahead. She was thinking ‘what’s the story tomorrow?’. That’s why she was the most extraordinary producer and the most extraordinary friend.”

Cameraman and editor Ray Queally said “What Sara brought to this game was not just top notch professionalism but also a real humanity.

“She cared about people and you knew she had your back, you knew she was looking out for you and when the day finished, when all that stress was taken off your shoulders, you would sit down a with a glass of wine (…) and over dinner you would relax and talk.

“She was just a fantastic travelling companion. A kind, sympathetic and compassionate human being.”

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network