Fox News Chicago's Robin Robinson Apologizes for Saying There is No Santa On Air

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 2, 2011 2:40PM

Just as WGN Evening News is built around Tom Skilling's 40-minute weather forecasts, Fox News Chicago's 9 p.m. newscast is worth watching because you never know when co-anchor Robin Robinson will engage in real talk on air.

During Tuesday night's broadcast, co-anchor Bob Sirott did a segment on how shopping mall Santas are are being trained to profile the financial situations of parents in order to tone down the expectations of their kids gift wishes. So, as Sirott suggests at the end of the segment, "If a kid says, 'Santa, I want a Maserati,' let Santa be the one to say, 'No. You get a Yugo and be happy about it.'" The segment was a dark version of a Jean Shepherd story.

(An aside: A Yugo, Bob? You couldn't update your cheap car reference to reflect modern times?)

As Sirott was ending his mini rant, Robinson decided to add her opinion. "As soon as (kids) are old enough to talk, 'There's. No. SAN-TA!'"

Shopping Mall Santas Scaling Back Kids' Expectations, Profiling Parents: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Robinson's right, of course. That doesn't mean some parents who heard what she said would be happy with it and prefer to keep the Santa wool pulled over their children's eyes for a little while longer.

It also means Fox News Chicago may have overreacted to Robinson's comments by having her apologize for her comments the following night.

Is Santa Real? FOX Chicago News Anchor Robin Robinson Apologizes For Saying He's Not: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Nice to see Fox News Chicago focusing on the news stories that Chicagoans are concerned about. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. At least until you ask a shopping mall Santa for a Maserati and he recommends giving you a used car for Christmas.