The DAILY LEADER this week announced theaddition of one new staff member and additional responsibilitiesfor two existing personnel, said General Manager Rachel Eide.

    Brookhaven native Rick East has joined The DAILY LEADER staff asGraphics Manager.

    East, who received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Communicationfrom the University of Southern Mississippi, has been working inthe graphic design and printing industry in Nashville for the pasttwo decades.

    In his new position at The DAILY LEADER, East will manage a team ofgraphic artists who are responsible for the layout and design ofthe news pages and advertisements in the daily paper and specialsections, both in print and digitally.

    “We are very happy to have Rick come home to Brookhaven and sharehis graphic design talents with The DAILY LEADER and our readers,”Eide said. “We also are pleased to see two of our existing staffmembers increase their role with the newspaper.”

    Anna Montgomery, who joined The DAILY LEADER the first week in Julyin classified sales, has been named Classified AdvertisingManager.

    Montgomery is a graduate of Delta State University with a Bachelorof Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences. She previously worked inretail sales in her hometown of Columbia and in Cleveland beforemoving to Brookhaven.

    In addition, Jason Reeves has been named The DAILY LEADER Web SiteCoordinator and will work with the newspaper’s management team toenhance the paper’s online presence.

    Reeves also will continue in his role as a graphic artist in thenewspaper’s Graphics Department, where he has been employed forseven years.

    Reeves has a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design degree fromMississippi College and an Associate of Computer Science degreefrom Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

    

    “As the newspaper industry changes, so too must we adapt to thosechanges,” said DAILY LEADER publisher Bill Jacobs.

    “The addition of Rick East and our internal changes with JasonReeves and Anna Montgomery will help us to continue to provide abetter and stronger newspaper for our readers and the SouthwestMississippi community,” Jacobs added.