Sandhya Dirks

As KPBS’ Metro Reporter, Sandhya Dirks covers city news and politics for radio, TV, and online. She focuses not just on the political horserace, but on how policies affect people in the community. Prior to joining the KPBS Newsroom, Sandhya worked at Iowa Public Radio, where she covered the 2012 presidential campaign for that key state as well as state politics. Sandhya contributed regularly to NPR during the election year and produced stories for Harvest Public Media - a reporting collaboration focused on issues of food, fuel and field. As a state-wide reporter, Sandhya focused on stories of growing diversity in the heartland and investigated the broken mental health system in Iowa. Sandhya started her career in the Bay Area at public radio station KALW. Her work focused on investigative stories and features on poverty, violence, and the criminal justice system. Her work has been honored with a Mark of Excellence Award by the Society of Professional Journalists and a regional Edward R. Murrow award. Sandhya has a master’s degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she refined her audio skills and learned multimedia reporting, editing, and production. Her master’s project on international adoption earned her a prestigious Patsy Pulitzer Preston fellowship.