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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Bank of America is testing a pilot program in Los Angeles that offers credit cards to people without social security cards. Some say other banks will follow, but Congressman Brian Bilbray wants stiffe
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The number of people arrested along the San Diego-Mexico border is down -- and so are drug seizures. That's according to the Border Patrol. But some within the agency say the statistics arent accura
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Pink slips are in store for hundreds of city hall workers. But so are smoother roads for San Diego motorists if Mayor Jerry Sanders gets his way. Sanders unveiled a $2.8 billion spending plan today wi
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The dispute over the height of the Sunroad Office Tower project took another turn today. San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye called on Mayor Jerry Sanders to step in to prevent a public safety haza
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Low pay and other options for potential recruits have triggered a shortage of officers in the San Diego Police Department. Reporter Amita Sharma will look at what the agency is doing to beef up its fo
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Several years ago, Golden Fence Company helped construct a fence along the Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants from entering the United States. Ironically, the owner of the company and its manage
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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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- Department of Homeland Security eyes military and veterans to join immigrant crackdown