Chris Reason

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.

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 video, which became an Internet viral video years later. In 2019, The Guardian called it "perhaps the pre-eminent Australian meme of the past 10 years".

In 1992, Reason was posted to London 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, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, 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 Sunrise 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, surgery and recovery care.

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, 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’.

In December 2025, one day short of the 11 year anniversary of his famous coverage of the Lindt Cafe siege, Reason was the first Australian free-to-air news reporter to arrive at the scene following the 2025 Bondi Beach terror attack, and was brought to tears by an interview with a bloodied survivor of the attack.

Personal life

Reason attended Villanova College in the Brisbane 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

References

1. "Chris Reason".
2. Gorman, James. (2022-11-17). "The 67th Walkley Awards winners announced".
3. "Chris Reason".
4. "Australian Television: 2000 Logie Awards".
5. (2015-05-03). "Logies 2015: full list of award winners".
6. "Media Week - Kennedy Awards winners 2015".
7. (2014-11-30). "2014 Perkin award winner Chris Reason".
8. (2025-02-27). "49th Perkin Award – Finalists".
9. Laidlaw, Kyle. (2025-02-28). "7 NEWS team recognised with four Quill Award nominations".
10. "The Press Files {{!}} The Press Files: Reporter Chris Reason www.7News.com.au #TDE7 #7News {{!}} By 7NEWS Sydney {{!}} Facebook".
11. WalkleyMag. (2024-11-19). "69th Walkley Awards winners announced".
12. (2022-04-09). "Chris Reason awarded by Australian Olympic Committee {{!}} TV Tonight".
13. (2025-04-10). "Tom Decent receives Harry Gordon Award for Olympic Games coverage".
14. (8 March 2020). "'This is democracy manifest': Mystery star of viral video found at last". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
15. Naaman Zhou. (30 December 2019). "From iSnack2.0 to Tony Abbott's onions: the best Australian memes of the decade". The Guardian.
16. (2 September 2013). "Chris Reason survived cancer and the death of his father, ten years on he is counting his blessings". The Daily Telegraph.
17. (2024-12-14). "Lindt Cafe siege remembered 10 years after terrifying images beamed around the world". ABC News.
18. (2021-01-26). "Chris Reason: Terror on the Ground – Lindt Café Siege".
19. Sharp, Annette. (15 December 2025). "Inside the TV networks’ chaotic race to cover the Bondi tragedy".