Leigh Radford OAM

President

ABC Rural Journalist, Broadcaster, Executive Manager and International Rural Media Advocate
Inducted 9th December 2016

The decades since Leigh commenced his media journey in 1988 have been marked by contribution and achievement.

He was the most senior member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s executive management team to have ever been based in Adelaide, having managed the largest rural media broadcast group in the world.

And Leigh has been responsible for shaping the careers of many of today’s top rural journalists, including a number who have gone on to become internationally renowned Foreign Correspondents.

Leigh Radford has made his mark on the international stage, representing the entire Australian rural media sector, private and Government, as the Australian delegate to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists.

He has travelled extensively overseas to represent our national interest, convening the judging panel of the world broadcast rural media awards and influencing rural media policy internationally.

Leigh Radford graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Arts – Bio Geography, with a major in English.

He’s worked as a storeman, truck driver and in a potato processing factory.

He toyed with the prospect of spending his life as an Environmental Officer for Western Mining at Roxby Downs.

But in 1988, Leigh was successful in his application to ABC Rural for a trainee position, making him the third generation of Radfords to work at the ABC. His son, Luke is the fourth generation.

After initial training in Melbourne, he was posted to Sale and Horsham as the Rural Officer.

From there he transferred back to South Australia in 1990 as the ABC Rural Officer at 5CK 691 Port Pirie, the town where his father had established the GTS 4 television station and where Leigh had spent a number of his childhood years.

The next move was down to Adelaide as the ABC Country Hour radio presenter and ABC television weather presenter.

In 1996 he rose to become the Country Hour’s Executive Producer.

In 1999 Leigh enjoyed a temporary role heading the ABC’s Rural Department across Australia as National Editor, prior to becoming permanent head of ABC Rural in South Australia.

In September 2016, Leigh was also awarded the status of Honorary Fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation in recognition of exceptional service and commitment to rural and regional.

And in 2019 he was awarded the Order of Australia medal.

Prue Adams

Vice President

Prue is a veteran of rural media. Starting out at SES Channel 8 Mount Gambier in the late 1980's, she later moved to a ski resort in California, working on the local newspaper and presenting a radio program called The Prue Review. Returning to Australia in 1989, she spent more than 30 years at the ABC, working as a TV news reporter, producer and current affairs journalist with The 7:30 Report. But it was the 25 years spent with the flagship rural program, Landline, that were the most fulfilling and productive. In 2016 she was judged the world's best agricultural journalist, winning the Star Prize in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Awards - for a documentary on Q-Fever. Now running Prue Adams Media, she is contracted by Anvil Media to produce agricultural extension videos and podcasts.. She regularly hosts conferences and events including Solstice Media's Regional Showcase Awards and Rabobank's Farm to Fork. In 2022, she picked up a video camera and starting shooting her own documentaries - producing three of them while on IFAJ international Congresses. She continues to tell the stories vital to rural and regional Australians and has been a member of RMC SA/NT since 1997.

Elizabeth Anderson

Secretary

Hui Peng Phay

Treasurer

Alistair Lawson

Director

Chief Judge Rural Media Awards - Journalism

Alistair has been working in rural media and communications for more than 10 years. He grew up on a dryland dairy farm east of Meningie before studying a Bachelor of Journalism at the University of South Australia. Upon graduating, he got the opportunity to combine his passions for the dairy industry and journalism when he was appointed dairy reporter for Stock Journal.

Since May 2014, Alistair has worked for AgCommunicators - a communication, marketing and education consultancy based in Adelaide. This sees him work with a number of clients across a range of sectors including RDCs, advocacy bodies and corporates.

Alistair joined the Committee in 2021, and is Chief Judge of the RMC SA/NT Rural Media Awards - Journalism categories.

Miranda Kenny

Director

Chief Judge Rural Media Awards - Photography

Louise McBride

Director

Louise McBride has a family background in agriculture, particularly the pastoral and wool industries. She worked as a rural journalist for Stock Journal covering the Eyre Peninsula and pastoral regions of SA before moving to Arnhem Land, NT, and working in the Indigenous art sector. Louise now lives in Roxby Downs, SA, and is busy raising a young family.

Mon Saunders

Director

Cassie Hough

Director

Jacinta Rose

Director

Paul Szentirmay

Director

Paul has spent the best part of the past 20 years working in Marketing and Communications, initially starting his career in the corporate sector at Coca-Cola Amatil and moving into the Healthcare sector, working for familiar names of Pfizer, Schering Plough and Organon (Intervet).

For the past 12 years Paul has worked as the Managing Director of zentir, a creative communications agency based in Sydney NSW. Despite running a business based in Sydney, Paul chose to relocate to south Australia over 10 years ago and resides in the Adelaide Hills with his wife and children, and has a keen interest in the agriculture sector and is a primary producer running both Speckle Park cattle and a flock of Dorper sheep.

Paul now has the opportunity to spend more time in Adelaide focusing on his farming and working on communications projects closer to home in South Australia. Paul recently joined as a member of RMC and looks forward to contributing to a topic he is passionate about - Rural Media & Communication in his home state and is pleased to join the committee for 2023.

Sharon Watt

Director

Having been raised on a mixed farming property in Victoria’s Western District and with an extensive and distinguished career in rural-regional journalism, public relations and communications, Sharon has a passion and enthusiasm for promoting all things agriculture, and is particularly keen to encourage and mentor the next generation of rural media and communications professionals.

Sharon has worked at a number of regional, rural and metropolitan newspapers, and was editor of Stock Journal before moving into public relations/communications as a rural-regional specialist.

As Hort Innovation’s current national Industry Communications Manager and having worked for the Grains Research and Development Corporation as a communications manager for many years, she has an intimate understanding of the agricultural R&D landscape.

Eliza Berlage

Director

Eliza Berlage is a multi-award-winning rural journalist. Originally from Sydney, she has worked across four different states and all media platforms to build a career in country Australia. Starting out at 2SER community radio, and 2GB commercial radio in Sydney, they later moved to Canberra for to work as podcast producer and researcher for veteran journalist Michelle Grattan in the federal press gallery, as well as gaining work at news agency AAP. She then changed lanes chasing work as a reporter, first at a local paper in Western Victoria, before working at a start-up community paper in South Australia’s south east. She was awarded best regional/rural journalist print by RMC SA/NT for that work, before shifting to the Riverland region for a job as rural reporter at the ABC in 2021. During her time there she has reported on the global wine oversupply crisis, been awarded best rural journalist online by RMC SA/NT and was selected as Australian Broadcasting Corporation ‘s representative to attend the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists young leaders bootcamp in Canada in 2023. She is proud to tell stories that champion diversity and diversifying, and has been member of RMC SA/NT since 2020.