Christopher Rann (born 31 December 1946 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England) is a

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

, media strategist and a specialist in global media and reputation management based in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Australia. A former

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, freelance foreign correspondent and broadcaster, Rann is the managing director of Rann Communication, a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

firm with clients and projects in many parts of the world. He is the brother of the former

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

Mike Rann Michael David Rann, , (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and Australian am ...

Career history

Rann began his journalistic career as a cadet reporter with the Matamata County Mail, a small country newspaper in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. From 1969 - while based in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

- Rann became a successful freelance correspondent for major international media, including CBS News (USA), ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'' (UK), the Macquarie News Network in Australia and the South African Morning Newspaper Group. During this time, he attended and reported on, among other things, the independence celebrations in Fiji and Tonga (both attended by members of the British Royal family) and the Wahine ferry disaster, near

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, which claimed 53 lives. Rann moved to Adelaide, South Australia, in 1972 where he was a senior reporter and sub editor with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. In 1983, he started his own media relations company, Christopher Rann and Associates, now known as Rann Communication. Rann directed the public relations campaign to attract the $5 billion Collins submarine project to South Australia and subsequently promoted the launches of the six submarines built. He also managed the official opening of Olympic Dam, the world’s largest copper/uranium resource, at

Roxby Downs Roxby Downs may refer to. * Roxby Downs, South Australia, a town and a locality * Roxby Council, formerly Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, a local government area See also *Roxby Downs Station Roxby Downs Station was a pastoral lease in centra ...

in South Australia and, later, a major incident at the mine site involving a leaking tailings dam. As well, he coordinated the South Australian government public relations campaign to attract the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''( Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unpreceden ...

to Adelaide (Adelaide was runner-up to Kuala Lumpur). In 2005 he helped restructure the Communications Office for the Catholic Church in South Australia, working directly with the Archbishop and Vicar-General. In 2007, Rann advised the Finnish government on publicity management for the visit to Australia by the president of Finland. He also helped manage media relations for the 2008 visit to Australia and New Zealand by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and

Queen of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...

. Rann's recent roles have included: * promoting a visit to Australia by 600 employees of Pernod Ricard China to familiarise themselves with the Jacob's Creek wine brand. * managing international publicity for

Adelaide Zoo Adelaide Zoo is Australia's second oldest zoo (after Melbourne Zoo), and it is operated on a non-profit basis. It is located in the parklands just north of the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It is administered by the Royal Zoologic ...

before, during and after the arrival of two giant pandas from China. * coordinating global media for the canonisation of

Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, as St Mary of the Cross. Of Scottish descent, she was born in Melbourne but is best known f ...

in late 2010.

Personal life

Rann is married to Skye MacDonald, a lawyer and development manager. They have twin daughters. Sahara and Willow, born on 12 May 2007. Rann has two adult sons, Thomas Rann and Charles Rann, from a previous marriage. Since 15 August 1994, Rann has served as the Honorary Consul for Finland in South Australia. In 2005, he was awarded the honour of ‘Knight First Class of the

Order of the Lion of Finland The Order of the Lion of Finland ( fi, Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Lejons orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President ...

’ for his work in promoting Finland and Scandinavia in Australia and New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rann, Chris People from Adelaide 1946 births English emigrants to Australia Living people Knights First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland Australian public relations people Finnish diplomats Australia–Finland relations