
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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KPBS Midday EditionThe Mayor's race is getting as hot as the weather. The Port of San Diego gets a long-term delivery of fresh fruit. And the City of Escondido is wrestling with a voting-rights lawsuit.
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KPBS Midday EditionSan Diego is known for great weather, beautiful beaches and its laid-back lifestyle. Two women are working to make San Diego also known for its year-round public market.
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KPBS Midday EditionStarting today, young undocumented immigrants in San Diego County are eligible for legal status under a new federal program that allows immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to stay in the country legally for two years. We hear from a local student who is applying and an immigration attorney.
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KPBS Midday EditionThe San Diego summer suddenly got a lot hotter, but nowhere near as steamy as it is in the middle of the country. We look at what's up with the weather (the temperature), what's going on with the climate (change), and whether they are related (maybe).
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An advocacy group is calling for a reduction in what San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison customers are being charged because they have continued to pay to support the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station even though it has been shuttered since January.
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KPBS Midday EditionFresh fruit from South America will continue to flow through San Diego's port if a new lease deal is approved on Tuesday. We'll look at the deal and what it means to San Diego.
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County requiring employees of grocery stores and many other retail outlets to wear masks as of midnight Friday. That’s a tall order, says the California Grocers Association.
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