Title: investigative reporter and 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 307 Posts
Q&A: Dusty Johnson talks Trump, tariffs and the Panama Canal
Johnson says there is great enthusiasm for the Trump presidency among members of the U.S. Congress.
Immigration crackdown comes to South Dakota
Impact also includes misinformation, fears and rumors about ICE raids. “People are terrified."
SD birthing risks rise as another hospital ends service
The state's strict abortion ban makes South Dakota far less attractive to prospective OB-GYNs and other doctors who can deliver babies.
Noem proposes major cut to tobacco prevention in SD
Critics say it will increase use among children and cost the state nearly $5 million in health care costs.
Bill to protect farms from spying could limit access to CAFO data
Measure seeks to stop so-called agro-terrorists from entering or photographing South Dakota farms.
Move into SD bunker backfires on family seeking a new life
The problems at the residential bunker complex south of Edgemont, uncovered in a recent News Watch investigation, have landed particularly hard on one family.
Trouble in 'prepper' paradise: Bunker residents raise financial, safety concerns at Igloo, SD site
The former U.S. Army depot in South Dakota that once housed military munitions now hosts people looking to live off the grid. But a News Watch investigation has revealed problems at the bunker complex.