David Washburn

As the news and investigations desk editor, David oversees the newsroom's investigative reporters and works with other KPBS journalists to develop investigative and explanatory stories. David has been practicing the art and craft of journalism for 25 years, always with an emphasis on investigative and explanatory news. He first came to San Diego in 2000 to join the San Diego Union-Tribune’s I-team. While at the UT, David produced award-winning stories on San Diego’s high rate of officer-involved shootings, corruption involving contractors in Iraq, and misuse of donor funds at the local Red Cross.

In 2008, he joined Voice of San Diego, the pioneering local nonprofit news start-up, as a senior reporter and assistant editor. During his time there, David wrote and edited investigative pieces on San Diego City Hall, the local biotech industry, and charter school operators. He left VOSD in 2009 to help launch Voice of OC, an Orange County-based nonprofit newsroom. For eight years David supervised a team of staff writers and freelancers focused on investigating Orange County government and politics.

Most recently, he’s worked at EdSource, a nonprofit newsroom focused on statewide issues in education. As a 2018 Center for Health Journalism Data Fellow, he produced an in-depth series on chronic absenteeism in rural school districts. 

Early in his career, David worked as an assistant producer for Dateline NBC. He earned a B.A. from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.