Our independent, nonpartisan journalism informs and empowers millions across the Golden State. Triple your gift through Dec. 31.

Avatar photo

Wendy Fry

California Divide Reporter

Wendy Fry is an Emmy-winning multimedia investigative journalist who reports on poverty and inequality for the California Divide team. Based in San Diego and Mexico, Wendy has been covering the California border region for more than 15 years and covers immigration, reparations and issues affecting San Diego-area families

She’s a board member of the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and has reported for the Watchdog team at the San Diego Union-Tribune from 2009 to 2012. 

For television, she worked as an on-air reporter, investigative producer and assignment editor at NBC San Diego from 2013 to 2018 — where she helped launch an investigative team and Telemundo20, the Spanish language news station — before returning to print journalism, covering Mexico and Baja California for the Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2022.

Wendy won SPJ’s Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism in 2012 for uncovering corruption among construction contractors and elected officials at the Sweetwater Union High School District, resulting in indictments of about a dozen public officials. 

She also won the Grand Golden Watchdog Award from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association in 2017, for her coverage of dangerous levels of lead in water in the San Diego Unified and San Ysidro school districts. Her short documentary “Missing in Mexico,” about family members searching for the remains of missing loved ones, won a regional Emmy. 

A graduate of San Diego State, Wendy speaks English and Spanish.

Contact

Email

Latest Stories

New housing construction in a neighborhood on the outskirts of west Fresno on June 15, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
A guard tower at the California Health Care Facility prison in Stockton on March 2, 2022. Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
An angler with their line in the water stands next to the edge of a pier, while wearing a black sweatshirt. In the background, a highway overpass is visible.
A farmworker stands under a makeshift canopy, shaded from the sun, while working in a field of lush green grapevines. They wear a maroon hoodie and a cap, focusing on sorting or organizing items at a small, worn metal structure labeled with the number 17. Various supplies, including gloves and containers, are visible in the setup, and the scene is framed by the vibrant greenery of the vineyard.