Joel Grover is an investigative journalist for KNBC

KNBC

KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...

 in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He is nationally known for his undercover investigations, exposes and consumer reports.

Education and early career

Grover graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and began his career in Grand Junction, Colorado

Grand Junction, Colorado

The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...

. He then took a job as an investigative reporter at KSTP

KSTP-TV

KSTP-TV, channel 5, is the ABC affiliate for the Twin Cities. Its transmitter is located at the Shoreview Telefarm. It is the flagship station of Hubbard Broadcasting, which also owns several other broadcasting properties across the United States....

 Minneapolis before coming to Los Angeles as a reporter for KCBS

KCBS-TV

KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...

. In 2003 he joined KNBC's Investigative Team.

Investigative work

Grover's investigative work has changed laws, attitudes and entire government systems.

Grover's hidden-camera reports on restaurant cleanliness revealed employees of many restaurants not washing hands, not washing food, dropping it onto the floor and worse. The report put pressure on lawmakers in the City of Los Angeles

City of Los Angeles

The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until...

 to enact a letter-grade system after semi-monthly inspections. Another undercover investigative piece on Jiffy Lube

Jiffy Lube

Jiffy Lube is a chain of over 2,000 businesses in North America offering oil changes and other automotive services. The company is based in Houston, Texas, and is a subsidiary of Shell Oil.-History:...

 oil-change scams helped reorganize the entire company.

In 2009, he caught city agencies breaking city water laws by wasting water and subsequently being liable for thousands of taxpayer dollars in fines. He also caught Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Antonio Villaraigosa

Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa , born Antonio Ramón Villar, Jr., is the 41st and current Mayor of Los Angeles, California, the third Mexican American to have ever held office in the city of Los Angeles and the first in over 130 years. He is also the current president of the United States Conference of...

 watering his lawn at illegal times despite calling on the public to stop using water.

Awards

Grover has won countless awards for his investigative reporting, including 20 Emmys, six National Edward R. Murrow Awards, two Investigative Reporters and Editors Medals, three Society of Professional Journalists

Society of Professional Journalists

The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...

 Medals, the Peabody

Peabody Award

The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...

 and the DuPont-Columbia.