Amita Sharma
Investigative ReporterAs the public matters investigative reporter, Amita leads KPBS’ coverage on efforts to undermine democracy, including threats to public officials, bolstering the Big Lie, chipping away at voter’s rights, attempts to overturn election results, eroding institutions and weakening the government's capacity to do its job, as well as civic efforts to engage people with opposing views without rancor.
The goal of the position is to report on the stakes, from a San Diego County perspective, on the United States’ current political moment.
She has spent the last two years reporting on local threats to democracy, including regional extremism, the shrinking of local news coverage while the number of hyper partisan “news” websites grow, censorship at libraries and incivility at public meetings.
Her previous coverage includes: exposing abuses in local nursing homes at the height of the pandemic, including a serial rapist who had worked in several El Cajon facilities and was arrested following her reporting; unearthing a contract between the city of Chula Vista and Motorola that allowed the company to sell data collected by the Chula Vista Police Department; and reporting on discrimination and retaliation in the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office that led to court settlements and the retirement of the Public Defender.
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These days, we hear a lot about the United States crossing the Rubicon from democracy to authoritarianism. But where are we on the trajectory? -
As a war expert on a CIA panel, UC San Diego political scientist Barbara Walter helped forecast civil wars in other countries. Along the way, she discovered some of those predictors apply to the United States.
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The looming question after the nationwide "No Kings" protests last month was, "Now what?" Longtime San Diego political scientist Carl Luna has an answer. -
As President Trump threatens to deploy more troops to cities with demonstrations opposing his administration’s policies, the most successful protests so far have been peaceful, purposeful and organized. -
Even at 95 years old, Dolores Huerta remains active in public life, speaking at a Los Angeles ICE raids protest earlier this month. She spoke to KPBS' Amita Sharma about the state of justice in the United States and what young people can do to make changes. -
Longtime opinion editor Laura Castañeda says The San Diego Union-Tribune fired her last week shortly after managers nixed an editorial on the ICE raids in Los Angeles.
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The legal dispute over police drone footage stems from a lawsuit filed by Arturo Castanares, publisher of La Prensa San Diego. -
KPBS Midday EditionAn investigation by CapRadio and NPR's California Newsroom has found that Gov. Newsom overstated, by an astounding 690%, the number of acres treated with fuel breaks and prescribed burns in forestry projects aimed at protecting the state’s most vulnerable communities. -
This is a breaking news blog for all of the latest updates on the conviction of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd.
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