Rating: 100% True
Background: On October 11, 2016, reporters covering the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline were confronted and threatened with bodily harm while. In a video released by NBC North Dakota, masked demonstrators can be seen surrounding the news crew and aggressively challenging their right to report on the unfolding protests. “You guys need to go to your car and get the f**k out of here,” said a protester. “Shut the f**k up. If you keep talking dude I’m going to f**king kick your ass bro,” said another as the journalists scramble to retreat from the public roadway they were reporting from.
The anti-media hostility was reiterated later that day with protesters urging continued confrontation with the NBC affiliate. “At actions, please step forward and place your bodies between #KFYR (KFYR-TV) news anchors’ cameras and the action, and remind them gently but firmly that they are under no circumstances allowed to film the actions of water protectors,” wrote Sara Long in a Facebook post.
In another case, Vice News was banned from the Red Warrior Camp for “negative” coverage of the pipeline resistance efforts. “Vice interview with Chairman Archambault paints a pretty negative picture. Glad we banned their crew from Red Warrior Camp,” the protest group wrote in a Facebook post.