Chris Reason (born 1 October 1965) is a journalist, foreign correspondent and news anchor for the Seven Network Australia. He has been with the network for more than three decades, starting as Crime Reporter at Channel Seven in Brisbane in 1990 and going on to serve as European Correspondent, then London Bureau Chief, and is today the network’s Chief Reporter He has been won six

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

, two Logies, numerous Kennedy Awards and the Graham Perkin ‘Australian Journalist of the Year Award’. It was the first of three times he was a finalist as “Australian Journalist of the Year”. Reason has reported on a range of national and international news events including the

September 11 terror attacks September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the beg ...

, the Boxing Day tsunami and the

Fukushima nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which ...

. He covered the deaths of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

; the elections of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

; the coronation of King Charles; and the transitions of four Popes –

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, Benedict,

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

and Leo. He's previously hosted of all of Seven’s major news programs including

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

, Weekend Sunrise, the Morning and Afternoon News and the flagship 6PM bulletin.

Career

In 1986, after undertaking work experience with ''The Redland Times'' he was offered his first fulltime reporting role, while finishing a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. He moved to the Brisbane metropolitan newspaper The Daily Sun, as Crime Reporter in 1987. He then moved to television in 1989, accepting a job with QTQ Channel Nine Brisbane as Gold Coast reporter. In 1990 he moved to BTQ Channel Seven Brisbane as Crime Reporter. During his first year at ''Seven News'' he unwittingly covered a segment now infamously known as the

Democracy Manifest "Democracy Manifest" (also known as "Succulent Chinese Meal", amongst other names) is an October 1991 Australian news segment video by the reporter Chris Reason. In 2019 ''The Guardian'' called it "perhaps the pre-eminent Australian Internet me ...

video, which became an Internet viral video years later. In 2019, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called it "perhaps the pre-eminent Australian meme of the past 10 years". In 1992, Reason was posted to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as Seven’s European Correspondent. A year later he was made London Bureau Chief. In four years in the Bureau, he covered the ongoing conflicts in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, and the collapse of the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. He also covered the 1993 Ashes Cricket Tour, 1995 Rugby League World Cup and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In 1996, he returned to the Seven Sydney newsroom as Network Correspondent. In 2002, he was announced as co-host of the re-launched national breakfast program ''

'' alongside Melissa Doyle. But in September, Reason was diagnosed with cancer and forced to retire from the program while he underwent six months of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

, surgery and recovery care. He was replaced by David Koch. The cancer was an abdominal

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...

of the

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

he had fought four years earlier. Reason had missed a critical health check-up in 2001 while covering the 11 September terror attacks in the United States, and he says it almost cost him his life. In multiple interviews since, he has warned young men to never miss a health check-up. In 2003, after his recovery, Reason had multiple roles—first as presenter of '' Seven Morning News,'' and then presenter of '' Sunday Sunrise'' in 2004''.'' In 2005, he was named co-host of '' Weekend Sunrise'' alongside

Lisa Wilkinson Lisa Clare Wilkinson (Born 19 December 1959) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, and magazine editor. Wilkinson has previously co-hosted the Nine Network's breakfast television program, '' Today,'' with Karl Stefanovic (2007� ...

, but he was later replaced by '' Deal or No Deal'' host Andrew O'Keefe. Reason then returned to full-time reporting. In 2014, Reason covered the Lindt Café siege, which occurred directly opposite the Seven’s Sydney newsroom in Martin Place. The offices were evacuated by Police, but senior cameraman Greg Parker and then Reason were allowed back inside the building to sit beside the police sniper position and report on the unfolding siege. They were the only news crew in the country allowed beyond police lines. The coverage earned Reason all four of Australia's top journalism prizes - the Walkley, Kennedy, Logie and the Graham Perkin ‘Australian Journalist of the Year’.

Personal life

Reason attended Villanova College in the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

suburb of Coorparoo and the University of Queensland (BA). He married journalist Kathryn Robinson in 2005. They became parents to twins in 2007. His father died from brain cancer in 2006.

References

External links

Seven News website
* https://web.archive.org/web/20091005065545/http://www.claxtonspeakers.com.au/speakers_profile/915 {{DEFAULTSORT:Reason, Chris Australian television presenters Australian television journalists Living people People educated at Villanova College (Australia) Mass media people from Brisbane 1965 births