The production of a newspaper is a concerted team effort, involving all departments of the Pastoral Times team.
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The process starts with the advertising department and administration/classifieds departments, with the number of ads often dictating the size of the next edition.
The production team produces the ads that go on the page and create the ‘book’ to be filled by the editorial team, who gather news and local community content to keep you both informed and entertained.
A source of pride for the Pastoral Times is that most of our team were educated locally, either in Deniliquin or nearby towns.
All members of the editorial and production teams were educated at Deniliquin High School.
Our team:
Leesa Muir – Business manager
Leesa started with the Pastoral Times as a part-time advertising consultant in 2005.
Her dedication and proficiency saw her elevated to advertising manager in 2010.
After a brief time away from the company, Leesa returned at the start of 2019 as business manager.
She oversees all departments in the PT team, and manages the business as a whole.
Leesa is originally from Daylesford, where she was educated, and made the move to Deniliquin in 2002.
Zoe McMaugh – Senior journalist:
Zoe joined the Pastoral Times team as a cadet journalist in 2004, after graduating with a communications degree at the University of Western Sydney.
Over the next four years she completed a post-graduate degree through Deakin University while working full-time.
Not long after becoming a graded journalist, Zoe became the PT’s senior journalist and took on sub-editing duties. More recently recently she was promoted to team leader of the editorial department.
Zoe is a graduate of Deniliquin High School.
Jamie Lowe – journalist:
Jamie joined the Pastoral Times team as a sports reporter in early 2016, after initially completing some editorial work experience at the paper after graduating from Deniliquin High School.
While still the primary sports writer, Jamie’s skills expanded while completing his on-the-job cadetship, meaning he can now comfortably write on any subject appearing in the pages of the local paper.
Olivia Duffey - cadet journalist:
Olivia is the newest member of the Pastoral Times team, having taken up a cadet journalist position in January this year.
In a little over six months she has taken over as the primary local government reporter, and also enjoys getting out in the community and reporting on its people and events.
Olivia joined the team immediately after graduating from Deniliquin High School.
Julie Lowe - administration manager:
The classifieds department was Julie’s introduction to the Pastoral Times team, in 1997.
Supporting administration was also one of Julie’s duties, and by about 2003 she showed such proficiency in her role Julie was appointed administration manager.
As well as overseeing all the administration tasks for the company, Julie is in charge of payroll and accounts management.
Julie has always lived in the district, and attended Finely High School.
Ged Munro - production manager:
Ged has had the longest association with the local newspaper than any other current employee at the Pastoral Times.
He started with the PT as an apprentice compositor in 1980, and then became a qualified compositor.
Ged left the PT in 1988 to pursue other career interests, but soon found himself back in newspapers in 1993 — this time as a compositor with the Deniliquin Standard.
When the Standard merged with the Pastoral Times, he found himself back at the PT in 1995.
He was compositor and darkroom technician until the onset of digital technology in the late 1990s, and in the early 2000s was appointed production manager.
Ged was educated at Deniliquin High School.
Rebecca Flisher – graphic design:
Rebecca’s time with the Pastoral Times started when a trainee graphic design position was advertised one year after she had graduated from Deniliquin High School.
She’s been a valuable member of the production team ever since, and these days spends more time on the company’s many commercial printing jobs than she does on the newspaper.
When modern technology expanded the range of services the Pastoral Times could provide, it also expanded Rebecca’s skill set.
On any given day she could be working on advertising, book publishing, magazines, brochures or even website design.
Alex Paul - administration/production:
A traineeship in business and administration was the gateway for Alex to start with the Pastoral Times, straight after graduating from Deniliquin High School.
She learned from administration manager Julie Lowe and initially her primary roles were in the classified department and an administration support role.
Alex’s aptitude for design saw her role expand to include production in 2008.
She is the go-to person in the team when it comes to website design, and on any given day could be working on advertising, book publishing, magazines, brochures or designing business cards.
Amy Gretgrix - senior advertising consultant:
When the Pastoral Times was seeking a new advertising consultant in 2013, it opened up a new door for Amy.
Another opportunity arose for Amy in 2016, when she was appointed the team leader for her department.
The move allowed her to take more responsibility in the advertising department, where she was not only overseeing the newspaper advertising sales but also our range of special publications including the What’s On tourism magazine, monthly FarmTalk magazine and more.
Amy was a student at Deniliquin High School.
Kylie Davis - advertising consultant:
Kylie initially joined the Pastoral Times team in 2011 in a part-time role.
After a few years away from newspapers, she re-joined the team in 2018 working between the Pastoral Times office in Deniliquin and our sister paper the Southern Riverina News, which has an office in Finley.
In September 2018 she returned to the Pastoral Times.
Kylie has always lived in the local district, attending St Joseph’s School in Echuca.