Our newest Rural Media Icons

John Illsley and Liz Harfull inducted as Rural Media Icons

John Illsley and Liz Harfull have been inducted as Rural Media Icons at RMC SA/NT's Annual General Meeting in August, 2021.

This is RMC's highest honour and is judged on merit, and not necessarily presented every year.

Liz Harfull is an award winning author of several books, a journalist and past president of the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists - the national umbrella group that meshed together five separate state-based rural press clubs with their overseas counterparts.

For more than 10 years, she served on the executive committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists which represented media and communicators from more than 30 countries focusing on paddock to plate issues.

She began her career as a cadet journalist on a local newspaper and later worked for The Advertiser and Rural Press, winning a prestigious Dalgety Award for Excellence in Rural Journalism.

John Illsley had a distinguished career as a Livestock agent in SA, making the effort to qualify as a wool classer, not because he needed to, but because he believed it would provide him with a greater understanding of his clients’ needs.

In 1973 he joined the Rural Press SA office (Stock Journal) as assistant advertising manager to John Mackie, who he then succeeded when stepping up to the manager position soon after.

Through his position in the rural media sector, John was responsible for instigating major state livestock events such as the SA Beef Field Days (with SA Beef), The Royal Farm Expo (with the RA&HS), the Merino Field Days (with Merino SA), the SA Sheep Field Days (Mark 1 with IAMA) and the Sheep Expo (also Mark 1 with the Ag Educators).

John Illsley retired in 2000 after 27 years of dedicated service to the Rural Press, the Rural Media network and Livestock Industry.