Justin joined the Gazette in November 2005 as Montgomery County reporter and earned an Associated Press award for continuing coverage of the flooding during the summer of 2006. He moved on to cover western Schenectady County in December 2006. He began his career covering the crime and town beats for the Brattleboro Reformer in southern Vermont, covering the last Phish show in Coventry, Vt., and later serving as a correspondent during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Justin later worked as a rural beat reporter and editor for The Leader-Herald in Gloversville before joining the Gazette. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University at Albany and was an intern at the Legislative Gazette.