Callous Korina

JEERS TO TV Patrol’s Korina Sanchez for her insensitive and irresponsible remarks on Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) in her program’s Dec. 3 newscast.

During their regular freewheeling discussion at the end of the newscast, Sanchez and her co-anchors, former vice-president Noli de Castro and former Leyte 1st District representative Ted Failon, discussed the approach of Ruby.

Failon said the next few days were critical in terms of the typhoon’s path. Sanchez reacted, saying: “Kaya pa natin idasal yan para lumihis (We can still pray the typhoon changes direction).”

De Castro then said: “Sana ay hati na lang tayo. Kalahati sa Pilipinas, kalahati sa Japan” (I wish we could split the storm’s impact. Half of it to the Philippines, and the other half to Japan).

“Puwede bang sa kanila na lang lahat?” (Can’t Japan just get all of it?), Sanchez responded.

After De Castro subtly contradicted her, Sanchez remarked, “Sa kanila na lang lahat. Parang mas kaya nila (Let Japan have it all. It seems they can handle the storm better).”

Sanchez’s remarks have been circulated and criticized in social media and mainstream reports.

It was not the first time that Sanchez’s remarks about issues, especially on typhoon-related issues, have been the subject of criticism. In the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda last year, her remarks against CNN anchor Anderson Cooper resulted in massive criticism in the social and mainstream news media. (“Reporting Yolanda: More needed from the media“)

TV Patrol has also been notorious in media circles for practically institutionalizing the local TV newscast practice of letting its anchors engage in freewheeling and unscripted conversations about the news. (See Luis V. Teodoro’s In Medias Res blog post, “Journalism’s not about the journalist”)