Jan Fran

Not to be confused with Jan Francis.

Jan Fran
Born
Jeannette Francis[1]

1985 (age 38–39)[2]
Lebanon
NationalityAustralian
EducationMount Saint Joseph, Milperra, University of Technology Sydney
Known forThe Feed
Spouse
Al Morrow
​
(m. 2015)​
Websitejanfran.net

Jeanette Francis (Arabic: جانيت فرانسيس), better known as Jan Fran, is a Lebanese-Australian journalist and presenter. She has worked with the Special Broadcasting Service (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[3] to a Maronite Christian family. In 1989, she moved to Australia,[2] where she grew up in Bankstown in Sydney, New South Wales.[4] Fran studied journalism[2] and international studies at the University of Technology Sydney.

Career

Fran began her career as a foreign correspondent with SBS, working on Insight and Dateline.[5] For her series on women in post-war Uganda, she was nominated for a Young Walkley Award in 2012. She was a presenter on The Feed[2][6] from the program’s launch in 2013[7] until July 2019.[7] 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’s The Project.[1][6] In 2017, she was made an Australia Day Ambassador.[8] Fran also hosted the series Medicine or Myth? on SBS in 2019.[9]

Fran is an ambassador for Plan International Australia and has hosted a series of podcasts called Sexism and the City which Plan commissioned.[6][10] She has also challenged the different ways in which the perpetrators of the Christchurch mosque shootings and the Orlando nightclub shooting were described and presented by the media.[11]

As of November 2019, she is writing a memoir, Of Middle Eastern Appearance, to be published by Hachette Australia.[12]

In 2021, Fran began hosting Question Everything with Wil Anderson on ABC.[13]

Personal life

In 2015, Fran married Al Morrow, an advertising director.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Brygel, Jackie (25 February 2019). "The Story of Us. The Feed co-host and her husband reflect on life since their anything-but-humdrum first encounter". New Idea. Australia. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Verghis, Sharon (27 July 2017). "'You have to see it to be it': Meet three women who are changing the face of Australian TV". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ^ "Jan Fran takes a DNA test: what did she discover?". The Feed.
  4. ^ "Wilosophy Podcast with Jan Fran". 3 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Interview with Jeannette Francis | upstart". www.upstart.net.au.
  6. ^ a b c Valentish, Jenny (23 February 2019). "Hear Us Roar". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. p. 12, Spectrum.
  7. ^ a b Blackiston, Hannah (18 July 2019). "Alice Matthews to join SBS' The Feed, as Jan Fran and Patrick Abboud depart". Mumbrella. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Jan Fran / Claxton Speakers / Speaker Profile". www.claxtonspeakers.com.au.
  9. ^ Mathieson, Craig (27 June 2019). "Good medicine is in short supply". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. p. GG3.
  10. ^ Bedo, Stephanie (29 November 2018). "Why we need to start calling out sexual harassment". News.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Double standards of Western media outlets criticized after Christchurch terror attack". Daily Sabah. Istanbul, Turkey. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  12. ^ Carmody, Broede (25 November 2019). "Jan Fran holds mirror to Cronulla Riots in her first comedic memoir". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  13. ^ Mathieson, Craig (18 August 2021). "Wil Anderson and Jan Fran put misinformation to the test in new show". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 November 2021.