{"id":3870,"date":"2026-01-22T11:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/?post_type=cu_story&p=3870"},"modified":"2026-01-22T11:29:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:29:35","slug":"kristy-kirkup-from-parliament-hill-to-canadas-national-health-beat","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/story\/kristy-kirkup-from-parliament-hill-to-canadas-national-health-beat\/","title":{"rendered":"Kristy Kirkup: From Parliament Hill to Canada\u2019s National Health Beat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Kristy Kirkup: From Parliament Hill to Canada\u2019s National Health Beat\n <\/h1>\n \n \n\n

National Health Reporter,The Globe and Mail<\/em>
Bachelor of Journalism (\u201909) <\/p>\n\n\n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

In the 17 years since she graduated from the School of Journalism and Communication<\/a>, Kristy Kirkup has covered Parliament and the national beat for Canada\u2019s top media organizations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She started out at CTV News<\/em> in Ottawa, moving on to Sun Media<\/em>, CBC News<\/em>, The Canadian Press<\/em> and, for the past six years, The Globe and Mail<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kristy Kirkup, National Health Reporter,The Globe and Mail<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For much of that time, she covered Parliament, reporting on five federal election campaigns and travelled across Canada and internationally with Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But 2025 brought a new challenge when The Globe and Mail<\/em> named her to the national health beat. Kristy has embraced the opportunity, applying her significant journalism experience to new subject matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe really interesting thing for me about health is that it\u2019s really that moment where politics and policy intersect with the personal experience,\u201d says Kristy. \u201cYou get to connect with people about the things they are navigating and hear about the lessons they’ve learned.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, Kristy interviewed the first Canadian to receive the cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta at age 42. She also profiled a woman with Stage 4 glioblastoma who is taking a ground-breaking treatment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She credits many years of reporting on Indigenous issues for helping her find the right tone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are obviously very tender, personal situations. These aren\u2019t \u2018quick turnaround\u2019 stories,\u201d explains Kristy, who was part of a Canadian Press team that won the Canadian Journalism Foundation Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism for a series about sexual trauma in Indigenous communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the politicians she used to cover, she finds these interviewees can be wary of the media and protective of their privacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think listening is the number one skill and letting the conversation evolve,\u201d she says. \u201cYou might have notes going into a conversation, but you never really know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That care is one of the reasons Kristy is an advocate for professional journalism in a world increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe ability to listen, to connect, to form relationships and trust with the subjects and the reader: that\u2019s something a robot can\u2019t do,\u201d she says. \u201cThat is what drew me to the job and what keeps me in it.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Kristy still has a connection to 杏吧原创\u2019s journalism school, visiting classes and welcoming interns who exhibit the skills passed on in Canada\u2019s leading j-school. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI loved my time at 杏吧原创, and we have lots of students who come in to the Globe<\/em> and they\u2019re often so passionate. They have an advantage because they\u2019ve learned about television, about radio, about digital. These are all just different forms of storytelling and those skills are really transferable.\u201d  <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Globe and Mail national health reporter and 杏吧原创 Journalism alumna, Kristy Kirkup shares her journey from Parliament Hill to deeply personal health reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":3874,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[208],"cu_story_tag":[215],"class_list":["post-3870","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni-stories","cu_story_tag-journalism"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3887,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3870\/revisions\/3887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=3870"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=3870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}