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 EditionCalifornia has many disclosure codes on the books requiring home sellers to tell potential buyers everything from whether a person died in the home to an unruly neighbor. -
KPBS Midday EditionThe situation in Syria and Europe is considered the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. A public forum asks whether the world should be more prepared for the population upheavals that come with war. -
KPBS Midday EditionCalifornia has lost an astounding number of trees to the ongoing drought. Among them, many of San Diego's beloved Torrey pines. -
KPBS Midday EditionThis week in her long-running San Diego Reader column, Diary of a Diva, Barbarella Fokos decided to write about something she never has before. She described what it's like for her to live with depression. -
Records show Southern California Edison knew in 2005 about a flaw in the San Onofre nuclear power plant's new steam generator design but omitted that detail in a meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Critics say the omission deserves legal scrutiny. -
The study is part of a binational effort to examine how pollution travels across the U.S.-Mexico border.
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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.
- San Diego County estimates 400,000 Medi-Cal, CalFresh recipients could lose benefits
- A crisis team responding to a suicide attempt asked for help, El Cajon Police refused
- LEGO's Comic-Con diorama turns the San Diego Convention Center into a mini masterpiece
- A man is halted climbing the US-Mexico border wall. Under new Trump rules, US troops sound the alarm
- Fearing lawsuits, El Cajon Police stopped responding to some mental health calls