Jeanette Francis (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: جانيت فرانسيس), better known as Jan Fran, is a Lebanese-Australian journalist and presenter. She has worked with the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS Wor ...

(SBS), and served as co-host of current affairs and satire TV program '' The Feed'' and the podcast '' The Few Who Do'' alongside Marc Fennell.

Early life

Fran was born in Lebanon to a Maronite Christian family. In 1989, she moved to Australia, where she grew up in Bankstown in Sydney, New South Wales. Fran studied journalism and international studies at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 202 ...

Career

Fran began her career as a foreign correspondent with SBS, working on ''

Insight Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of seeing intu ...

'' and '' Dateline''. For her series on women in post-war

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

, she was nominated for a Young Walkley Award in 2012. She was a presenter on ''The Feed'' from the program’s launch in 2013 until July 2019. She has collaborated in various ways with co-presenter Marc Fennell. As a presenter, Fran has hosted TV coverage of Tropfest, and has been a guest presenter on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

’s '' The Project''. In 2017, she was made an

Australia Day Ambassador Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

. Fran also hosted the series ''Medicine or Myth?'' on SBS in 2019. Fran is an ambassador for

Plan International Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation which works in over 75 countries across Africa, the Americas, and Asia to advance children’s rights and equality for girls. Its focus is on child protection, education, child par ...

Australia, and has hosted a series of podcasts called ''Sexism and the City'' which Plan commissioned. She has also challenged the different ways in which the perpetrators of the

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosq ...

and the

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a 9 ...

were described and presented by the media. As of November 2019, she is writing a memoir, ''Of Middle Eastern Appearance,'' to be published by

Hachette Australia Hachette () is a French publisher. Founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif, the company later became L. Hachette et Compagnie, Librairie Hachette, Hachette SA and Hachette Livre in France. After acquiring an Australian publisher, Hachette ...

. In 2021, Fran hosted ''Question Everything'' with Wil Anderson on ABC.

Personal life

In 2015, Fran married Al Morrow, an advertising director.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fran, Jan Lebanese emigrants to Australia Australian reporters and correspondents Australian television presenters Australian women journalists Australian women television presenters Living people University of Technology Sydney alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 1980s births 21st-century Australian journalists 21st-century Australian women writers Lebanese Maronites