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
Back-to-school plans in SD awash with worry over safety of children, teachers and staff
With a new school year fast approaching in South Dakota, the usual feelings of excitement, anticipation and opportunity have been replaced with angst, anxiety and worry.
The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a pall of uncertainty over whether students, teachers and staff can safely return to schools for in-person teaching and
Committed to their communities: Two rural medical professionals go the extra miles
Editor’s note: This article is part of the final segment in the South Dakota News Watch series, “Small Towns, Big Challenges” and features two rural medical professionals who show a deep commitment to providing medical care to residents of remote small-towns in South Dakota.
In many rural areas of
Special report: How four SD small towns are managing change — Lemmon, Webster, Edgemont and Lake Andes
Editor’s note: This article is the final piece of a three-part special report by South Dakota News Watch. The “Small Towns, Big Challenges” series was supported in part by a grant from the COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program sponsored by Facebook.
Lemmon has a new ‘fire in
Media expert: Loss of local news outlets leaves public less informed and damages democracy
The very framework of democracy in America is being weakened by the rapid, widespread demise of local news organizations, particularly small newspapers that once served as trusted providers of information and pillars of their communities, according to Margaret Sullivan, who spoke virtually to a South Dakota audience on Tuesday, June
Special report: Pandemic threatens fragile rural health care system
Editor’s note: This article is the second of three parts of a special report by South Dakota News Watch. The “Small Towns, Big Challenges” series was supported in part by a grant from the COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program sponsored by Facebook. Part three will appear next
South Dakota News Watch live virtual town hall discussion on small towns
Small towns across South Dakota are at a crossroads, facing historic declines in population and economic activity but also seeking new ways to thrive and grow. The COVID-19 pandemic, while not significantly infecting rural populations, has indirectly affected both potential paths. While the pandemic has hurt the agricultural economy and
Special report: Small towns in SD facing big challenges amid pandemic and historic declines
Editor’s note: This article is the first of three parts of a special report by South Dakota News Watch. The “Small Towns — Big Challenges” series was supported in part by a grant from the COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program sponsored by Facebook. Parts two and three will