Scott Friedman

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

driven to death Sep 11

Driven to Death: Lowering speed limits in Dallas

Dallas is implementing lower speed limits on some of its most dangerous roads following an NBC 5 investigation. The changes aim to improve safety in light of extreme speeds and a high number of deadly crashes previously reported by NBC 5. Senior investigative reporter Scott Friedman has more.

driven to death Sep 12

Dallas lowers speed limit on Loop 12 in South Dallas after NBC 5 investigation

The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to reduce speed limits on several stretches of Loop 12 in southern Dallas, where it’s also known as Ledbetter Boulevard, Great Trinity Way and Buckner Boulevard.

driven to death Sep 11

Dallas City Council votes to lower speed limit on US 75 Central Expressway

The Dallas City Council has voted to lower the speed limit on U.S. 75 Central Expressway after an NBC 5 investigation exposed extreme speeds and a stunning number of deadly speed-related crashes. TxDot will soon replace the speed limit signs, lowering the limit from 70 to 65 miles per hour between Woodall Rodgers and Mockingbird Lane. Senior Investigative report Scott...

NBC 5 Investigates clocks a driver going 133 mph on Central Expressway in Dallas.

driven to death Sep 11

Dallas lowers speed limit on Central Expwy after NBC 5 Investigates reveals extreme speeds

The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to reduce the speed limit on a portion of U.S. 75 Central Expressway, after NBC 5 Investigates shined a light on extreme speeds and speed-related crashes on that roadway.

driven to death Sep 8

Loop 12 in Dallas has highest traffic deaths in city so far

New numbers reveal that Loop 12 in Dallas has had the highest number of traffic deaths this year. A recent incident involved a Dallas teenager who was fatally hit while walking to school on the East Ledbetter Road section of Loop 12 near Marsalis. NBC 5 Investigates has been focusing on the dangers on Loop 12 with their series “Driven...

People living and working along Ledbetter Drive/Loop 12 in Southern Dallas say drivers treat the road like a highway, often driving dangerous speeds.

driven to death Sep 8

Dozens of 'emergency' traffic safety changes planned for Loop 12

With at least six pedestrians killed in crashes along Loop 12 this year, transportation officials are making “emergency” changes to make the road safer.

driven to death Sep 6

Crash that left teen dead happened on deadly stretch of Dallas road

NBC 5 Investigates has exposed traffic dangers on Ledbetter Boulevard, part of Loop 12 where Friday’s deadly crash that left a Dallas ISD middle schooler dead. NBC 5 Investigates senior reporter Scott Friedman reports our Driven to Death series has prompted action to address the risks drivers and pedestrians face on that road.