Title: Content Director
Contact: 605-937-9398 / bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org
Language spoken: English
Demographic expertise: South Dakota, including the Rapid City area, the Black Hills, rural towns and reservations
Topic expertise: agriculture, state government, education, rural issues, Indigenous people, poverty
Potential conflict of interest: Pfankuch serves on the board of the Oyate Prevention Coalition in Rapid City, which works to prevent substance abuse among Native American youth. He will recuse himself from reporting on the organization.
Biography: Pfankuch (pronounced FAN-cook) is Wisconsin native and former editor of the Rapid City Journal. He has worked for more than 30 years as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Wisconsin, Florida and South Dakota, including as reporter or editor at the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram and Capital Times in Wisconsin, and at the Florida Times-Union and Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida. He also is a syndicated writing coach who has presented at newspaper conferences across the country. Pfankuch has won more than four dozen state, regional and national journalism awards, including, while at News Watch, agricultural writer of the year from the North American Agricultural Journalists association in 2020, 2021 and 2023 as well as first-place reporting awards in the Great Plains Journalism Awards sponsored by the Tulsa Press Club and South Dakota NewsMedia Association. Pfankuch lives in Black Hawk.
Professional memberships: Investigative Reporters and Editors, North American Agricultural Journalists, South Dakota NewsMedia Association First Amendment Committee
Archive of work: South Dakota News Watch
Bart Pfankuch
Total 376 Posts
3-wheeled cycles a hot ride in Sturgis even as hidden safety issue arises
Trikes, Spyders and Slingshots are growing in popularity, but they can prove tricky on turns, as evidenced by a recent wreck that killed a Sioux Falls woman.
How SD hospitals fared in the latest quality ratings
Eighteen systems were included in the 2026 list from the federal government. The annual ratings allow patients to gauge medical care quality and can provide motivation for hospitals to improve.
Experts: Cyberattack on Pennington County likely by foreign adversary
The federal government has warned state and local agencies in the U.S. that cyberattacks by Iran, Russia or China are increasingly likely and that steps to improve security should be taken. "I think we’re cannon fodder in the Iran war."
Big paydays result from $50M auction of SD T. rex skeleton
The high sales price for Gus the T. rex could stimulate greater interest in South Dakota's fossil hunting and dinosaur museum industries.
New housing forms foundation of Canistota's revitalization
Driven by entrepreneurial residents, housing development has helped transform the southeast South Dakota town into a rural bedroom community for Sioux Falls and Mitchell.
New project illustrates SD's love-hate relationship with solar power
While power companies and state officials show interest in the renewable power source, opposition from neighbors dims the shine on some ventures.
South Dakota T. rex fetches $50 million at auction
"Gus" was found in 2021 on a Harding County ranch.