His first job was as a reporter on the Wolverhampton Express and Star, then in 1949 he moved to Bermuda where he worked at The Royal Gazette.
He became the Mail's lobby correspondent, then in 1962 became Chief Reporter with the Daily Sketch, and in 1969 was promoted to Executive Editor.
[2] Kirby became editor of the London daily, the Evening News in 1974, and completed its transformation from broadsheet to tabloid.
[2] Circulation of the Evening News continued to fall under Kirby's editorship, and in 1979, the paper stopped publishing a Saturday edition.
[1] Kirby was appointed editor, and made more than 100 journalists redundant, most from the Evening News.