65°
Mostly Cloudy
LATEST UPDATES: Tracking COVID-19 | Vaccines | Racial Justice
Amita Sharma
Investigative Reporter
Amita Sharma has worked at KPBS since 2000 and has covered a wide range of stories for TV and radio. She is part of the KPBS Investigative Reporting unit and occasionally hosts KPBS Evening Edition.
Among the reports Amita has produced are a three-part series on child sex trafficking in San Diego, a two-part series on how the state is using survivors' benefits for foster children to pay for their upkeep, and a four-part series on the Port of San Diego's finances. Other investigations include the San Diego angle to the U.S. attorney firings, private security firm Blackwater’s controversial training camp proposal, and the Sunroad development controversy. Amita has also interviewed a number of local and national newsmakers including former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, Wisconsin Congressman James Sensenbrenner, and fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. In 2005 she landed an exclusive interview with three federal prosecutors who worked on the bribery investigation resulting in the guilty plea of former San Diego Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham. She also covered the murder trial of David Westerfield, the 2001 shooting at Santana High School, and how three of the 9/11 hijackers spent their time in San Diego.
Amita has also worked as a newspaper reporter. She has degrees in journalism and international relations from the University of Southern California.
Recent Stories by Amita Sharma
State Authorities Allowed Alleged Sexual Predator To Job-Hop Among San Diego Area Nursing Homes
- April 14
- By Amita Sharma
California Department of Public Health investigators knew that certified nursing assistant Matthew Fluckiger had been accused of sex crimes by women at multiple nursing homes in El Cajon and La Mesa. Yet, the agency waited years to revoke his license.
California Lawmakers Proposing Significant Nursing Home Reform Package
- April 2
- By Amita Sharma
Lawmakers say the bills will make nursing homes safer and hold their owners more accountable.
San Diego Nursing Homes Opening To Visitors With Restrictions
- March 9
- By Amita Sharma
In San Diego, fully vaccinated residents can have visitors in their room if the visitors have tested negative for COVID-19 within the previous two days. Restrictions will loosen as case rates go down.
Families, Advocates Pushing California To Reopen Nursing Homes
- March 8
- By Amita Sharma
As COVID-19 vaccinations near completion and cases drop 98 percent, there's growing pressure on the state to allow families to visit nursing home residents inside their rooms.
Remembering A San Diego Civil Rights Leader
- Feb. 17
- By Amita Sharma
Trunnell Price, co-founder of the San Diego Black Panther Party, died last month at 72. He helped start the local chapter while a student at SDSU in the 1960s.
BLM Protesters: Sheriff’s Deputies Ignored MAGA Supporters’ Assaults At Poway Rallies
- Feb. 3
- By Amita Sharma
Several protesters say rallies against police brutality have become lessons in law enforcement indifference to aggressive behavior by Trump and Make America Great Again followers. San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore disputes these claims.
Pandemic Profile: Caregiving Work Tough Before The Pandemic, Now It's Filled With Fear
- Jan. 18
- By Amita Sharma
A caregiver, who works at an assisted living facility worries about getting the virus and giving it to her family.
Roughly Half Of Caregivers At Long-Term Care Facilities Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine
- Jan. 15
- By Amita Sharma
Many are worried about long-term side effects.
Vaccination Rollout At San Diego Senior Care Facilities Lags Far Behind Plan
- Jan. 13
- By Amita Sharma
As new COVID-19 cases again surge through senior care facilities in San Diego and throughout the state, getting vaccines into the arms of residents and caregivers has been spotty and slow, according to doctors and advocates.
Hundreds Of COVID-19 Cases Tied To San Diego County Tribal Casinos
- Dec. 21, 2020
- By Amita Sharma
Community outbreak records obtained by KPBS show a total of more than 630 cases in which people diagnosed with the disease had been at casinos within 14 days of their diagnosis.
Latest on kpbs.org
GI Film Festival San Diego 2021: 'Sky Blossom: Diaries Of The Next Greatest Generation'
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 5 p.m.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Billy Graham
Stream or tune in Monday, May 17, 2021 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV + Sunday, May 23 at 9 p.m. on KPBS 2
