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 First Amendment Committee
Social platforms: X/Twitter; LinkedIn
Archive of work: South Dakota News Watch
Bart Pfankuch
Total 337 Posts
South Dakota predator bounty program to continue despite opposition
Despite data or evidence, state is 'confident that this bounty program is enhancing nest success.'
Demand remains high for 'heritage turkeys' grown in South Dakota
A few South Dakota organic farms are raising smaller heritage turkeys, and interest is rising. “Once that breed is gone, they’re gone and gone forever.”
$8.3B in crop insurance payouts to South Dakota farmers: A cost of climate change
Nearly 65% of federal crop insurance premiums are subsidized with federal funding.
South Dakota beef industry sees potential in small, local meat plants
A new trend in South Dakota agriculture could fundamentally change the economic landscape for the state's $1 billion annual beef cattle industry
New Native American mentoring program in South Dakota builds lifetime bonds
A South Dakota branch of Friends of the Children pairs paid, full-time professional mentors with thousands of at-risk children to help them grow into stable teenagers and eventually successful, well-rounded adults.
$100 million in food benefits lost when South Dakota ended pandemic emergency
South Dakotans who rely on food stamps missed out on $100 million for groceries because the state declared an end to the COVID-19 emergency while federal funding was still available.
Illnesses related to firefighting foam latest burden for South Dakota veterans
Military veterans who served at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City and at Joe Foss Field Air National Guard Station in Sioux Falls are part of new national class-action lawsuits seeking damages due to exposure to toxic chemicals in firefighting foam.