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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Threatened cuts to federal spending and layoffs of key government workers are moving at a rapid clip under the Trump administration, with broad fallout for San Diego County. San Diego Congresswoman Sara Jacobs spoke to KPBS about the latest moves and what they mean for local residents. -
San Diego's congressional Democrats are now speaking out about executive orders that could hinder local scientists. That’s weeks after the Trump administration suggested freezing federal funding and banning words that could threaten research. -
Solitude is transforming American society. Whether it’s a desire to be alone or involuntary loneliness, people are spending more time by themselves. And that has ramifications on democracy. -
The banned words include: women, disability, bias, status, trauma, Black, Hispanic communities, as well as socioeconomic, ethnicity and systemic. -
A Jan. 28 email giving federal employees the option of resigning with full pay through September has been met with confusion and outrage by prosecutors and support staff in the San Diego U.S. Attorney’s Office. -
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is well versed in authoritarian leaders. She spoke with KPBS about President Donald Trump’s first few weeks in office
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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.
- Bob Filner, disgraced ex-mayor of San Diego, dies at 82
- Mild, warmer weather expected this week in San Diego County
- Firings and a ‘no confidence’ vote rock Imperial County government
- San Diego County releases dashboard compiling on South County sewage
- As a diversity grant dies, young scientists fear it will haunt their careers