Sarah Corp, television producer – obituary

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Sarah Corp was born in Blackheath on April 24, 1975. Her love of travel may have sprung from her early years in Egypt where her father, John, was employed as an oil trader. She inherited a talent for music from her mother, Prue, professor of modern languages ​​and concert director.

She won a scholarship to James Allen’s Girls’ School, where she sang and learned to play the cello, trumpet and piano. She sang viola in the choir at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where she read the story. Her older sister, Elinor, is a musician while her other sister, Rachel, is on the news. Sarah, the youngest, has crossed both worlds, playing the cello and singing in a professional choir between missions abroad. On the road, she wore jeans, a shirt and a pale blue scarf but at a concert she always looked stylish in a black dress and high heels.

During her gap year before college, she taught in Nepal. Shortly after graduation, she joined ITN as an associate editor and was then assigned as a C4N producer in Washington. With one and sometimes two phones stuck to her ears, she was both intellectual and practical, quickly grasping the detail of a story while making contacts and sorting through logistics, from where to sleep to how to. get a decent bottle of wine. She would stay in touch with repairers and drivers for years to come, not only because she wanted to keep abreast of developments in their country, but because she cared about them and their families.

In 2008, she married Charles Bates, partner at Deloitte. For several years, they divided their time between Prague and London, eventually settling in East Dulwich where she planted a garden. She loved vacations in the Hebrides and walks in the English countryside. His cuisine was enhanced with ingredients picked during his travels: saffron from Iran, za’atar from Gaza, sumac from Beirut.

Entering her prime as a journalist following the September 11 attacks, Sarah Corp covered the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Arab Spring and the Russian takeover of Crimea. She declined the promotion to management because she wanted to stay on the road.

She worked closely with Jon Snow, the seasoned presenter of Channel 4 News. “If Channel 4 News’ foreign coverage stands out,” he said, “a lot of it is because of her.”

Iran, with its deep culture and complex politics, was her favorite country, and in 2009 she was instrumental in arranging an interview for Jon Snow with then President Ahmadinejad.

Earlier that year, she had been elated to be in Tehran for the Green Revolution, when young people took to the streets to protest a rigged election. Even after the cameraman’s arrest, armed thugs were unleashed and the government cut communication links, she made the story known.

In 2014, she organized a helicopter to transport correspondent Jonathan Rugman and cameraman Philippa Collins to Mount Sinjar in Iraq, where the Yazidis were besieged by Isil. The next day, the same helicopter crashed, killing the pilot and injuring Alissa Rubin, a New York Times correspondent. Sarah Corp spent long hours organizing treatment and medical evacuation.

She especially enjoyed covering the rescue of 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped underground for over two months, saying that after all these years it was the team’s reward to cover a story with such a fantastically happy ending. .

The ‘Umbrella Revolution’ in Hong Kong in 2014 was her last assignment before lung cancer was diagnosed, but she was talking about international events until the last time, as well as sending photos of her garden to flowers for the first time this spring.

She is survived by her husband.

Sarah Corp, born April 24, 1975, died May 10, 2016

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