Amita Sharma

2 days ago | kpbs.org | Amita Sharma

Americans’ trust in the news media grew 8 percentage points this year, compared to 4 percentage points in 2024, according to a recent survey by the data firm YouGov. But news consumption remains as politically divided as the country. With few exceptions such as financial news sources like Forbes and The Economist, or The Weather Channel, Democrats and Republicans don’t have faith in the same outlets. In its poll, YouGov asked people about the trustworthiness of 52 news sources.

1 week ago | kpbs.org | Amita Sharma

From top to bottom, from the federal government to the city of San Diego, programs that feed people, help them stay healthy, find jobs and enrich them are on the chopping block. The public is taking an unprecedented hit. KPBS spoke with Noah Yee Yick of the Center on Policy Initiatives about where we might be headed. The House just passed legislation that includes $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Fourteen million people could lose health coverage, 3 million in food stamps.

2 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Amita Sharma

A new UC San Diego study shows that when people learn about congressional representatives’ stock trades, it sinks their trust and diminishes their willingness to follow the law. The January review by UCSD’s Rady School of Management used a sample of 1,000 Americans. They were shown data from the watchdog group Unusual Whales on the portfolio performance of members of Congress, which routinely outperform the market.

2 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Amita Sharma

Although local Republican and Democratic parties usually look to national parties to set positions on issues, it’s local leaders who get to pick and choose which ones they like and which ones to toss. KPBS spoke with Corey Gustafson and Kyle Krahel-Frolander of the San Diego Republican and Democratic parties respectively to get their take on President Trump’s first four months in office.

1 month ago | kpbs.org | Amita Sharma

President Donald Trump has proclaimed himself the “fertilization president.” It might be tempting to call that declaration hyperbolic, but two UC San Diego researchers actually found evidence that birth rates climbed eight years ago during Trump’s first term. Economics professor Gordon Dahl and assistant professor of finance William Mullins looked at birth certificate data in Republican-dominated counties as well as Democratic majority counties.