Scott Friedman is NBC 5's Senior Investigative Reporter leading the "NBC 5 Investigates" team, exposing critical safety concerns, and holding officials accountable.
Scott’s investigative reporting has been recognized with broadcasting’s top national honors including the duPont-Columbia Award - the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize - a Peabody Award, five national Edward R. Murrow Awards, the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award, two national SPJ Sigma Delta Chi Awards and a national News and Documentary Emmy for outstanding regional investigative report. Scott's investigations have also been featured on NBC Nightly News and TODAY on NBC.
Scott’s Peabody Award-winning investigation of financial troubles at Dallas County Schools (DCS) exposed a web of corruption, staggering financial mismanagement, hidden personal relationships and conflicts of interest inside an agency that transported tens of thousands of children to school each day. The Texas Legislature, governor and voters acted swiftly to close DCS and the superintendent who ran the agency pleaded guilty to federal charges for accepting $ 3 million of bribes and kickbacks in exchange for government contracts. The NBC5 reports also sparked an FBI public corruption investigation which led to the conviction of the second-highest-ranking elected official in the City of Dallas.
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In 2023, Scott received the prestigious Alfred I. du-Pont-Columbia Award for his series “Paper Tag Nation” which exposed how criminals were able to infiltrate the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles registration system in order to sell vast numbers of fraudulent temporary license plates illegally. The series revealed how those fraudulent paper plates were often used by criminal organizations looking to create “ghost cars” used in cross-border smuggling, human trafficking, and the commission of violent crimes. NBC5’s reporting helped spark leadership changes at the Texas DMV, legislative action to change the temporary tag system, and a new system for car dealer licensing background checks.
For more than a year, Scott’s team investigated care for injured, active-duty U.S. Army soldiers, in partnership with The Dallas Morning News. The series uncovered hundreds of complaints from injured troops describing mistreatment, harassment, verbal abuse and a lack of care from commanders of U.S. Army Warrior Transition Units (WTUs). Within days of the station’s first reports, the U.S. Army ordered new training for commanders of all 25 WTUs worldwide, aimed at better treating injured troops with dignity and respect. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee also ordered a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation.
Scott’s nine-month-long investigation of crashes and injuries caused by police officers using dashboard-mounted computers while driving led to changes in local police department policies and became training material for law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Scott joined KXAS-TV in 2006 reporting, later anchoring the station’s weekday morning newscast, NBC 5 Today. In 2012, he helped launch “NBC 5 Investigates.”
Previously Scott was an investigative reporter and news anchor at WTMJ-TV (NBC) in Milwaukee and a reporter at WNDU-TV (NBC) in South Bend, Indiana. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
The Latest
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Staffing cuts at the NWS raise concerns ahead of severe storm season
As an already active spring storm season unfolds, staffing shortages at the National Weather Service are raising serious concerns. The forecasters’ union warns that recent federal cuts could impact the ability to issue life-saving storm alerts. NBC 5 Investigates’ Scott Friedman reports.
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Forecasters union expresses ‘grave concern' about NWS staffing this storm season
An already active and destructive storm season raises new questions about the impact of recent staffing cuts at the National Weather Service.
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Fewer Texas shops offering emissions tests after state law change
A new Texas law has led to more than 1,500 shops stopping emissions tests, making it harder for drivers to find a state-licensed inspection station. NBC 5 Investigates looks at the impact.
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Why it's getting harder to find an emissions testing shop in DFW
NBC 5 Investigates obtained data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality showing more than 1,500 shops no longer offer emissions tests since Texas changed its inspection law, eliminating vehicle safety checks, but still requiring emissions tests in large urban counties.
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Inside Texas' border battle: Fewer crossings, higher cartel fees, and rising costs
NBC 5 Investigates goes inside Texas’ border operations as crossings hit a 15-year low. With cartels raising fees and federal troops increasing, questions grow over Texas’ billion-dollar border spending.
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$18,000 to cross: Migrants tell Texas DPS cartels raising smuggling price
Illegal border crossings have declined as the Trump administration surges resources to the southern border. Migrants caught crossing the border tell Texas state troopers that Mexican cartels are responding by raising their fees for smuggling people across.
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Former ICE official says mass deportations unlikely
NBC 5 Investigates why former ICE officials doubt the agency can meet Trump’s goal of deporting 13 million people.
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Former ICE director says deporting 13 million ‘not going to happen'
Former ICE director Sarah Saldaña tells NBC 5 Investigates mass deportations are unlikely.
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Fort Worth PD adds staffing to cold case unit
New developments in an NBC 5 investigation. We’ve learned Fort Worth Police have increased staffing in their cold case unit. This comes after NBC 5 Investigates aired the stories of victim families – who say a shortage of detectives left them feeling their cases have been forgotten. Senior investigative reporter Scott Friedman has the update.
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Fort Worth PD adds cold case detective after families complain of lack of action
After a backlog of cold cases left the families of victims feeling forgotten, the Fort Worth Police Department is adding another full-time investigator to the team.
