After completing a Graduate Diploma of Journalism from Massey University Kirsty’s journalism career started at a regional paper in Taranaki in 2008, before moving through online and Sundays reporting.

Kirsty won a national Best Investigation award in 2014 for a series of stories about the treatment of intellectually disabled people in care homes.

Quoting The Spinoff: “This media era is characterised as one of disastrous clickbait and diminishing journalistic standards. But Kirsty Johnston and the Herald’s new project Under the Bridge shows that passionate, paradigm-shifting investigative journalism is alive and well in New Zealand.”