North Texas

Kristi Nelson

NBC 5 First at Four and 5 Talk Street Anchor and Reporter

Kristi Nelson's fascination with journalism started when she was just 9 years old, and Santa left a typewriter for her beneath the Christmas tree.

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She soon started banging out articles based on topics she saw on TV, and would cut and paste the stories on paper, which she would then sell to family members for 25 cents each. It was the beginning of a long love affair with news and storytelling.

Fast forward more than 30 years, and Kristi is now a multiple award-winning journalist, and the anchor of NBC 5 First at Four and 5 Talk Street.

In the nearly two decades she’s spent at NBC 5, she’s also hosted Lone Star Politics, NBC 5 Spotlight and been at the forefront of some of the region’s most memorable breaking news stories.

Kristi's extensive experience goes beyond her time reporting and anchoring in the nation's 5th largest television news market. She started her journalism career as a newspaper reporter, spending several summers as an intern at the Dallas Morning News before going on to work at The Philadelphia Inquirer, and later, the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Kristi got a taste of the sports world when she joined the National Basketball Association's Communications Department, working as a writer within the Publishing Ventures division. She authored feature articles for commemorative magazines and NBA-branded publications, including Inside Stuff and Hoop magazines, and was part of the media relations team mobilized for major events, including NBA Finals, NBA All Star Weekend and NBA Draft.

Her work at the NBA led to another accomplishment – that of being a published author. Kristi finished "The Chamique Holdsclaw Story" while working on a Master's degree at Columbia University. It was published in 2000 by Scholastic Press.

In recent years, Kristi has distinguished herself through coverage of issues relating to justice, race, communities and health.

In August 2011, Kristi donated a kidney to her mother and documented the process in a multiple-part series called "Kristi's Gift," which aired on NBC 5 the week of the surgery. The series earned Kristi an Emmy.

Kristi has three Lone Star Emmys and earned a Gracie Award from the prestigious national organization, The Alliance for Women in Media. She also has multiple awards from the National Association of Black Journalists and has been honored by several local organizations for both her work as a journalist and her contributions to the North Texas community.

You can find Kristi on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so please follow her stories and adventures online!

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