Veteran journalist Ana Garcia is an award-winning investigative reporter for KNBC and is the co-anchor of the "Channel 4 News" at 6 p.m.
Drop Ana a line:
Ana.Garcia@nbcuni.com.
Garcia's investigations have exposed corruption, fraud, terrorism and consumer scams that have led to legislative changes.
Garcia's expose of big city contracts and campaign contributions in Los Angeles led to a revision in the city's fundraising rules and a federal fraud trial.
In 2005, Garcia broke the story of a terror cell operating from inside a California prison.
Her 18-month undercover investigation "Tow Truck Pirates" used hidden cameras to show drivers being taken advantage of by unlicensed tow truck operators. Those reports were used in Congress as examples of why the federal towing law should be amended. That amendment was part of Transportation Bill signed by President George Bush in August 2005. In 2006, the California Assembly played the reports in a hearing to document what was happening to drivers. Later that year, California toughened its towing law.
Garcia is the only reporter to capture a sex trafficking ring in operation in Northern San Diego County. That groundbreaking investigation led to an Emmy for Outstanding Hard News Reporter.
Her investigative work has earned her numerous other awards, including Golden Mikes and Edward R. Murrow Awards. She was also the recipient of an Associated Press Award for Best Investigative Series in California and named Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club.
She joined NBC4 in 2001 then took a break from journalism to work on a congressional campaign and in city government. Garcia rejoined the station in January 2003 as an investigative reporter and in 2005 she began anchoring the "Channel 4 News" at 6 p.m., as well.
Garcia is on the board of directors of the Good News Foundation, a nonprofit founded by the women of Los Angeles television news dedicated to making a difference in the community they cover through charitable grants and an academic scholarship for journalism students.
Garcia began her news career as a desk assistant for WABC-TV in New York and spent almost 11 years working for three ABC television stations. She covered political and social issues for New Jersey Public Television before moving on to WPVI in Philadelphia as an Action News Reporter, then to KGO and, finally, to KABC as a weekend anchor and reporter.
Garcia was raised in New York and is a graduate of St. John's University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication.
