Kris Johnston

Kris Johnston is a newsroom leader and reporter whose sports and local news coverage treats clubs, hospitals and councils as parts of the same public-interest story. He focuses on how infrastructure, funding and governance decisions shape everyday life, from village sports pavilions to hospital surgery standards and affordable housing plans.

Sport rooted in community infrastructure

Johnston’s sports coverage centres on the places and facilities where games are played rather than on results alone. His work on the construction of a new village sports pavilion in Thornham tracks the project from the ageing wooden building dating back to the 1980s through to the modern replacement, detailing how new changing rooms, a kitchen, a large central area and a multipurpose meeting room will serve teams, spectators and wider community events. The piece treats the pavilion as a long-term community asset, explaining how upgraded facilities can sustain local sport and social life, not just provide a pitch and changing block.

That emphasis on buildings, amenities and the people who use them gives his sports reporting a planning and civic dimension that goes beyond match reports.

Hospitals and health services under scrutiny

Alongside sport, Johnston devotes significant reporting to local health services and clinical standards. His coverage of a damning review into general surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn sets out how care in a series of abdominal operations fell below required standards and how external clinical leadership from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals was mandated as a result.

He walks readers through the Royal College of Surgeons’ findings, the whistleblowing letters that triggered the review, the number of cases examined and the proportion judged below expectations, before explaining the new requirements for consultant oversight and aligned standards.

In another piece, he reports on a new app designed to make life easier for hospital patients, showing an interest in digital tools and practical changes that affect the patient experience. Taken together, his health coverage combines detailed use of official reports with clear explanations of what reforms mean for people receiving care.

Court, politics and public safety

Johnston’s Lynn News work spans courts, politics, business and everyday crime, giving him broad exposure to how decisions and incidents shape local communities.

He has covered a high-profile trial involving a disgraced head teacher, reporting on the proceedings and their impact on trust in education leadership. His political reporting includes coverage of Liz Truss losing at a general election, in which he follows the contest through to its outcome and sets it against the wider national picture. He has also produced an in-depth feature on shoplifting in town centres, treating it as a systemic issue rather than a series of isolated offences.

On the public safety side, his story about a woman left with a broken nose and eye socket after being headbutted while working at a business premises details the injuries, the police response, the arrest of a man in his 20s and the appeal for further witnesses. This strand of his work shows a reporter who is comfortable with sensitive court material, political change and frontline crime, and who uses specific incidents to illustrate broader questions of safety and economic pressure.

Leadership across local newsrooms and sport

Johnston now leads coverage for the Newark Advertiser under the Iliffe Media group, building on his progression from reporter to senior roles at Lynn News and related titles.

His current work includes reporting on large-scale regeneration and housing schemes, such as plans for 2,000 new affordable homes backed by £70m in funding, where he focuses on how investment packages translate into bricks, mortar and long-term community impact. Earlier in his career he worked as a data journalist providing live in-game football statistics and compiled match reports on youth football in Scotland, giving him a foundation in both quantitative analysis and grassroots sport.

He has also written film and television criticism for Brig Newspaper, producing episodic reviews of series such as Marvel’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier and demonstrating an ability to structure longer, opinionated pieces around narrative and character development. Across these roles he combines sports knowledge, evidence-led reporting and experience managing newsroom output, making his work distinctive on stories that sit at the junction of sport, local infrastructure and public services.