From Law Enforcement To Investigative Journalist To Emmy Award-Winning Producer

Scott Weinberger Waxes Nostalgic About His Career and His Friendship with Muhammad Ali

If you are a fan of cable network Investigation Discovery (ID), you are surely familiar with On the Case with Paula Zahn from Weinberger Media and Scott Sternberg Productions. Debuting in 2009, the 25^th season of the true crime-themed investigative series began on Sept. 4^th with its 350^th episode.

“Day in and day out, Paula’s unparalleled grace, professionalism and journalistic integrity shine through in each episode, which has so clearly resonated with fans for years, making On the Case a signature pillar of ID,” said Jason Sarlanis, President of Crime and Investigative Content at Discovery, Inc. in a statement. “We are thrilled to celebrate these accomplishments with Paula and the entire creative team as they continue to unravel shocking crimes, leaving their mark on television and the community around us.”

Crime solving – scripted or documentary style storytelling, and often ripped-from-the-headlines in nature – is nothing new, of course. Past and present, there has been an endless fascination with it in media; from the heroes who solve the crimes to the villains who commit them.

“People are interested in the process of how a crime occurs from the beginning, how cops intertwine it and figure it out, and how it is resolved, which is often in a court,” noted Scott Weinberger, a former deputy sheriff and now the founder of and an executive producer at Weinberger Media. “The brand has advanced from scripted into unscripted, and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.”

“From Sherlock Holmes to The Fugitive and Law and Order to Court TV, television has always been our in-home escape, allowing our somewhat mundane lives to be transposed as we seek to solve the latest whodunnit,” explained Mike Tankel, partner/optimist at marketing and development firm To Be Continued. “From riding shotgun with cowboys to cops to vigilantes, to having ourselves thrown into the world of the criminal. Is it our desire to catch a thief? Solve a big mystery? Or to join in on the caper by becoming our own criminal mastermind?”

“We are always fascinated by what we cannot do, how we can solve the crime that was committed, and what we can find out about the people behind these actions,” added Tankel. “As long as there is crime, there will always be crime-themed television shows.”

From the Beginning

Historically, the first known network television crime drama was the obscure Barney Blake, Police Reporter in 1948. Early scripted entry Dragnet became the scripted poster child for the category, as did Perry Mason from the legal side. Crime-themed scripted dramas like Adam-12, Columbo, Kojak, Cagney & Lacey, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and NYPD Blue demonstrated their appeal (as do the countless entries at present, including the two longest running scripted dramas in television history – Law & Order: SVU and parent Law & Order).

Naturally, no conversation about the crime category is complete without The Sopranos on HBO. And the art of the non-scripted crime form of storytelling, often cinema verité in style, became a staple in primetime courtesy of Cops, initially on Fox, in 1989.

One of the early episodes of Cops featured Scott Weinberger, who after meeting Muhammad Ali during a college debate class credits the boxing legend for giving him the drive to become a police officer and, eventually, an investigative reporter and crime-themed producer, among other things.

“I was working on a program with the United Nations General Assembly, The World on Hunger Foundation, and Muhammad Ali was giving a speech. We just really hit it off,” remembered Weinberger. “Ultimately, I spent about five years after college developing opportunities with Ali in marketing and business.”

After a brief stint as a stockbroker on Wall Street, Weinberger followed his earlier passions into law enforcement.

“Had it not been for Muhammad Ali, my life might have taken a very different path,” he added. “It was his guidance and inspiration that led me to where I am today; recognizing the value and importance of capitalizing on your interests and seizing the moment.”

While serving as a deputy sheriff in Florida, Weinberger’s department was selected as the first to be featured on Cops, which at the time was an unprecedented concept on a broadcast network. Just two years of age at the time, the Fox network was known for choosing programs you could not find elsewhere and Cops, at the time, offered the added advantage of having no union writers during the then Writers Guild of America strike.

“I had cameras riding with me and I could not, for the life of me, figure out why people would find this interesting,” noted Weinberger. “Then I realized that they would be cognizant of officer safety and I felt comfortable to proceed. What resulted on the air were real lives and real drama that viewers just gravitated to.”

“It was like a lightbulb went off in my head,” he said. “And at the moment I wanted to segue into behind-the-scenes production.

From Television Production to Crime Investigation

After working with the US Marshal Service Strike Taskforce, Weinberger teamed up with Miami Vice star Don Johnson to create crime drama The Marshal in 1995, which featured Jeff Fahey as a United States Marshal charged with pursuing fugitives across the nation. It ran for two seasons. When the local ABC station in West Palm Beach, WPBF, approached him to produce a segment on how a cop developed a television show, that led to his new role as an investigative crime reporter.

“The news director at WPBF had the vision of taking someone with no journalism experience, someone who had never been a reporter, and putting him on the air,” remembered Weinberger. “Ultimately, I taught myself how to write, and within three years I was breaking very big stories. Eventually, I got an offer to work at WNBC in New York City, and I stayed there for about 10 years. In 2005, I left WNBC to become the Chief Investigative Reporter at WCBS.”

Flash to 2007 and Weinberger’s exclusive multi-part jailhouse interview with David Berkowitz, the infamous “Son of Sam” killer in New York, resulted in his first Emmy nomination. That same year was the launch of Weinberger Media, which specializes in the development and the production of non-scripted television programming that brings viewers into the world of crime, investigations, police and the judicial system. First up was On the Case with Paula Zahn.

“When Investigative Discovery launched with only reruns of Dateline, then with Stone Phillips, I saw an opportunity to get a new face for the network and came up with the idea to do a long format newsmagazine show and Paula Zahn had recently left CNN,” remembered Weinberger. “Paula loved the opportunity to showcase this emerging genre, which put its focus directly on the victims, and On the Case With Paula Zahn was launched.

Within these 25 seasons and 350 episodes, On the Case With Paula Zahn explores the stories of true crime mysteries as the host travels around the country interviewing the individuals closest to the case. Included are law enforcement officials, the families of the victims and the incarcerated, lawyers from both sides, and, when possible, the actual convicted murderers.

“What hasn’t changed over the years is the focus on the victims. We will never do a case that the family members don’t want us to do,” said Weinberger. “What has changed, however, is the way the stories have developed through recreations. In the beginning, there were no recreations. But, over time, when dramatic storytelling began to unfold, the viewers wanted to feel more connected to the story.”

In addition to On the Case With Paula Zahn, programming under the Weinberger Media banner has included American Vice on CNBC, featuring unprecedented access to the criminal underworld; True Conviction on Discovery ID and ID GO; Underground Poker NYC on National Geographic; and, more recently, One Deadly Mistake on Oxygen.

Additionally, in 2020, Weinberger Media partnered with Audiochuck to launch the Anatomy of Murder podcast. Hosted by Scott Weinberger and Anna Sigga Nicolazzi, the former prosecutor for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, the Webby Award winning Anatomy of a Murder has now surpassed 70 million downloads.

“I am still in the crime and justice genre, but I am doing different types of looks into those cases,” said Weinberger. “I have been given great opportunities, and I’ve recognized them fully enough to know how to both approach and embrace them. Law enforcement was the best time of my life, but I knew it would not have been enough to fulfill the role that Muhammad Ali paved for me.”

“I love being part of the podcasting world. I think the space is ever expanding. And I plan of doing more of it,” he added. “While the art of storytelling has evolved, the nature of crime and punishment will never go out of style.”