THE Examiner yesterday farewelled one of it longest serving employees in Julian Burgess.
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Burgess began with The Examiner in 1969 as a readers' assistant in the pre-computer production era of hot metal type composition.
Obviously, 45 years at The Examiner has exposed Burgess to many changes but his contribution to The Examiner has been far greater than simply long service.
He has contributed in nearly a dozen senior roles across several departments and been a driver of change and innovation.
In 1982 he grabbed an opportunity to move from production into editorial as a sub editor and also served as chief of staff, night news editor and deputy editor to Rod Scott.
He then managed Travelways and Independent Publishers Tasmania and was involved with the roll-out of websites in Launceston and throughout Rural Press which earned The Examiner a PANPA award.
He then became newspaper sales manager which evolved into a circulation manager's role incorporating The Advocate and agricultural publications statewide.
In 2006 Burgess returned to the editorial department as associate editor and also online editor until 2010 and for the past four years he has produced many of The Examiner's award- winning features and historical supplements.
"When I started at The Examiner the production department was like a factory with dozens of machines using molten lead to create lines of type," he said.
"Within a decade or so they had been replaced by computers, photo typesetting and paste-up page composition.
"By 1990 we were one of the first newspapers in the country to move to full computer production of our pages and we were one of the first to have our own news website.
"The Examiner has always been held in high regard in the Australian newspaper industry and that has made it a very rewarding place to work."
Burgess's contribution to The Examiner in so many roles has been enormous and the Burgess name won't be lost to the editorial pages with his daughter Georgie recently starting work in our Hobart office.
The Examiner wishes Julian Burgess every success as a media advisor for Bass MHR Andrew Nikolic.