'InJustice' Highlights Supreme Court Fight Over Journalism Rights

At the center of this battle is a critical question: Can the government force a news organization to hand over its confidential reporting materials?

BEK TV has been subpoenaed by a North Dakota prosecutor in a murder case, demanding their sensitive, protected newsgathering materials. They include raw un-aired interview footage, reporter notes, text messages, and staff communications tied to its coverage. BEK TV is fighting the subpoena before the North Dakota Supreme Court.

On Christmas Eve of 2023, near the Air Force Base in Minot, North Dakota, ND Air National Guardsman Nick Van Pelt was shot and killed at his home.  BEK TV reported the murder’s possible link to a military defense aerospace parts building near the Canadian border, via accused killer Daniel Breijo, a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agent and Air Force Reservist at the time of the murder.

InJustice was born from BEK TV’s earlier investigative series, Dunseith Declassified, which uncovered shocking details about the murder from interviews conducted with the sole-surviving victim-witness in the case, Jenni Babcock. Breijo is accused of not only killing Van Pelt but shooting his girlfriend, Babcock, multiple times and leaving her for dead. Babcock miraculously survived and shared her story with BEK TV and other media. 

Interestingly, it is believed that only BEK TV has been subpoenaed, despite the prosecutor’s assertions that a primary reason the state seeks BEK’s protected materials is because everything and anything Babcock had to say to the media is pertinent.

BEK TV’s legal fight highlights growing national concerns that other prosecutors could conduct “fishing expeditions” into protected newsroom materials for legally unsupported reasons. In this case, North Dakota’s longstanding Journalist Shield Law is being ignored, confidential sources and whistleblowers now risk exposure, and a precedent-setting ruling could weaken longstanding press protections across the country.

Watch InJustice anytime at no charge on the BEK TV+ app.

BEK TV is one of the only locally-owned, non-corporate television broadcasting networks remaining in the country and produces more local content than any other television station in the Midwest.  It broadcasts in North Dakota on over-the-air television and across the world via streaming on BEK TV+. 

The concept behind BEK TV’s programming is to provide a media service platform that is unscripted and uncensored.  The majority of BEK TV hosts are untrained broadcasters who share their perspectives and views on topics and issues that people are talking about.  The BEK network never controls the messaging.

BEK TV is the 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 winner of the Bismarck Tribune’s Best of the Best contest, selected by the people for “Best Local TV Station”.  BEK TV host Lori Hinz is the winner of the 2024 “Best TV Personality” award.  Both were chosen by the people.