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
Home heating costs high and getting higher in South Dakota
Many South Dakota consumers already facing high prices for gasoline and groceries should also expect to pay far more to heat their homes this winter, with prices for propane and heating oil already far higher than last year and rising fast.
Some experts worry the high prices could push some
As holidays approach, cellphones and speeding remain major roadway risks in SD
Despite new laws and public-information campaigns, distracted driving and cell phone use behind the wheel continue to make roadways in South Dakota and across the country more dangerous.
New survey data from the American Automobile Association show a significant reduction in some unsafe behaviors in recent years — including impaired driving,
South Dakotans overwhelmingly support teaching of Native American history and culture in public schools
South Dakota education officials have struggled to revise social studies standards that include guidelines for teaching Native American history and culture, but a new poll suggests state residents are very firm in their support for inclusion of Native studies in public schools.
The poll of 500 registered South Dakota voters
Poll shows strong public support for removal of SD attorney general
As the South Dakota Legislature prepares to undertake impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who killed a pedestrian with his car in 2020, a new poll shows that a strong majority of state residents is in favor of removing him from office.
The late October poll of 500 registered
Investigation part 3: Lawmakers call for inquiry into Cammack COVID grants
Two South Dakota legislators are calling for further investigation into more than $700,000 in state COVID relief grants given to Chris Cammack, son of Senate Majority Leader Gary Cammack.
The calls for deeper inquiry into the grants follow an Oct. 11 South Dakota News Watch investigation that raised questions
Investigation part 4: Federal government relied largely on local lenders to vet more than $800 billion in COVID loans
Significant direct oversight of the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which provided more than $800 billion in forgivable loans to U.S. business during the pandemic, was placed in the hands of the community banks and lending institutions that issued the loans.
Jaime Wood, South Dakota director for the U.S.
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