The Hunter River Times

By Di Sneddon

Mike Pritchard is a pretty amazing man.  I first met him when he was an acting editor of The Singleton Argus and I was a young cadet.  Saying that I was young but so was Mr Pritchard.  He was very young to be elevated to such a role and he carried that job out with aplomb.

Mike’s voice has brought comfort to many, in a time when they had nothing else to turn to. Times of bushfire, flood and rain.

He said one of the great privileges has been the welcome he has received into your homes to give you the voice to tell your story.  One of his difficult moments is walking away from those who had shared their stories knowing that he could go on and live his life but those he spoke to had to continue with the challenges they were dealing with.

Mike is an extraordinary man and the Upper Hunter have plenty to thank him for.  He taught me to care, and can I say I was only about 19 but his short stint at The Singleton Argus taught me a lot.  It is never about a headline, a snap grab, or as they call it now a headline teaser for a quick look at a story on the internet.  Oh my goodness, Marilyn Munro seen at Rouchel.  Let’s see where that google search ends up?

Mike, and I know many of you know him as Michael or Mr Pritchard (and there was a time I called him that), arrived in Australia when his parents had a share farm back in 1960 and got his first job as a compositor at the Condobolin newspaper.  Compositor is a difficult job to describe to younger people these days but let’s just say, it wasn’t something you could do quickly.  These days it is all done on a computer.

He went from Forbes to Parkes and in 1975 arrived at the Scone Advocate where he stayed in newspapers for 15 years.

In time, his smooth voice and understanding of communication and conversation saw him appointed to the news room at ABC Radio Upper Hunter.  This new platform allowed listeners to hear what he had to say instead of just reading it.   (Might I say I have not the voice for radio or the head for television to venture into another media dimension.)

Michael says he has been lucky in a way, he has been able to do a job that he has enjoyed for so long.  He has been able to journey through stories that have expanded his experience and not locked him into an isolated metropolitan column that could have quite easily happened.

We thank you Michael, for your calming voice, your insight, your experience and on behalf of the entire Upper Hunter and beyond, we are hoping you push that alarm buzzer to sleep mode every morning.

You are wonderful human being and we thank you for giving our region a voice.  We wish you all the very best in the future.  Anytime you want a column in The Hunter River Times just let me know.  So much love to you from all our readers.