“Money for Nothing;” “The Buried and the Dead;” “Television Justice;” “Kinder Prison”

Investigations revealing that a major U.S. financial institution is making loans to non-existent companies in Mexico, that regional law-enforcement officers had collaborated with news crews to produce a prime-time TV program, that conditions in a prison housing children were deplorable, and that pipelines carrying gas into homes are unsafe—and they all come from one Dallas, Texas, television station. In these stories, truly outstanding work extends far beyond the home studio, all the way to international corruption. It links small town life and nationally broadcast television programs. It follows the practices of federal immigration officials whose policies harmed children. And it traces life-threatening danger to citizens in the station’s viewing area and secures changes and reforms from powerful state agencies. These contributions by WFAA’s investigative teams serve as the very definition of what is best in “local television news.” For four carefully produced and richly reported stories, WFAA receives a Peabody Award.