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 322 Posts
Contaminants common in SD drinking water but most within legal limits
State testing data show that several contaminants — all of which can be harmful to human health — are commonly found in the drinking water provided to residents of South Dakota, but whether the contaminants are present at unhealthful levels is a matter of ongoing debate.
In most cases, the tap water
Severe dental diseases persist in SD due to chronic poverty and lack of access to dentists
Tooth decay, gum disease and many other oral-health illnesses are considered to be 100% preventable, yet many children and adults across South Dakota continue to suffer severe dental problems.
A lack of access to proper dental care in South Dakota is driven both by geography and income. With a relatively
Football participation declines in SD and US as brain injury research expands
Tackle football remains one of the most popular sports in America, but participation in high school football in South Dakota and across the United States is falling steadily as the risk of brain injuries from the sport becomes clearer.
Participation in 11-player boys football in South Dakota fell by 5.
SD slow to vaccinate children against HPV, a virus that can cause cancer
South Dakota lags behind the rest of the nation in vaccinating children and youths against the Human Papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease in America that can cause a range of potentially fatal cancers.
HPV can exist without symptoms and is a leading cause of throat cancer in men
Wind energy expansion in SD to bring 888 more turbines, $3.3B investment
The prairies and rolling hills of South Dakota will soon become dotted with wind turbines after the approval of eight major wind-energy projects that will bring 700 more turbines and an investment of $2.6 billion in the state by the end of 2020.
Two other projects now in the
SD journalism community mourns the loss of Maricarrol Kueter, founding editor of South Dakota News Watch
Maricarrol Kueter, a South Dakota native, longtime leader in the state journalism industry and founding executive director and editor of South Dakota News Watch, died on Aug. 10 after a long battle with cancer.
Throughout her fight, Maricarrol, 63, had the strong support of her close family and friends, which
Risky youth behaviors harder to track in SD
South Dakota parents, educators and health officials are facing a four-year gap in data about risky youth behaviors related to drinking and drug use, sexual activity and eating habits.
The lack of information about what young people are actually doing can impair efforts at the state and local levels to