KVCR wins Emmy Award for “The Warehouse Empire” documentary

Correction: KVCR only won one Emmy Award for The Warehouse Empire docuseries. The other emmy was for Inland Edition, a show that covers civic engagement issues in the Inland Empire.

KVCR Public Media, the Inland Empire’s PBS station (Channel 24) and NPR affiliate (91.9 FM), has earned an Emmy Award, a milestone that underscores the station’s commitment to producing high-quality, community-driven journalism.

The award was in the Documentary – Topical category for The Warehouse Empire, a 52-minute docuseries produced and hosted by San Bernardino-based filmmaker Sofia Figueroa (Come and See Media). The series explores the rapid expansion of the warehouse and logistics industry in the Inland Empire and its effects on local communities, particularly those living near large industrial facilities.

“As the director of The Warehouse Empire, I'm deeply honored that our series received an Emmy award," said Figueroa in a statement. "Our goal was to spotlight the powerful stories of Inland Empire residents and bring attention to how the growing warehouse and logistics industry is affecting frontline communities. With the support of PBS stations like KVCR, we’re able to elevate local voices and bring greater visibility to the challenges and resilience within our community.”

Funded in part through the Creative Corps Inland SoCal initiative, the series highlights perspectives from warehouse workers, environmental justice advocates, economists, and residents facing the environmental and social fallout of Southern California’s goods movement boom. It examines how warehouse development has transformed the region’s landscape, impacting land use, air quality, and public health.

The documentary features Anthony Victoria, a KVCR reporter and founder of The Frontline Observer. Victoria has spent years covering environmental justice and land use in the region. In the film, he draws from his reporting experience to explain how communities are often excluded from policy decisions and how unchecked industrial growth has contributed to what he calls “slow violence”—the long-term health effects of pollution on working-class neighborhoods.

"In a lot of ways, people are fighting for their lives," said Victoria. "I think a lot of folks want to engage with the [industry and lawmakers]. They want these folks to listen to them. They want to look at them and say, 'help me, we're not here to antagonize you.' But it has to be a two-way street, and I think in some cases it's definitely not a two-way street."

The Warehouse Empire originally aired on KVCR in August 2024 and is available to stream through PBS platforms.