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
Surprise inspections part of oversight reforms for SD youth homes
For the first time in South Dakota, unannounced surprise inspections would be conducted at private youth treatment centers as part of a sweeping oversight reform package being pushed by Gov. Kristi Noem.
Noem has proposed a major overhaul to how South Dakota oversees, inspects and updates the public about conditions
A look inside a CAFO: SD farmers share stories of a life in livestock
MILLER, S.D. – The expansion of concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in South Dakota is without a doubt one of the most controversial topics in agriculture.
CAFOs are large livestock farms that generally house 1,000 or more animals in a confined, indoor space at any one time.
Supporters
State financial incentive program for CAFOs criticized as ‘bribery’
The state of South Dakota entered the fray over siting of new large livestock operations in the state when it created an economic development initiative in early 2019 that can provide large payments to counties that approve new concentrated animal-feeding operations.
The program, which has not yet distributed any funds,
Human health, environmental and antibiotic concerns follow CAFO development
A growing body of research into the rising number of concentrated animal feeding operations across the United States reveals deepening concerns over impacts on human health and the environment.
The high concentration of manure and other wastes created by animals housed in confined areas — and the storage and spreading of
Expansion of large CAFO livestock farms causing division and concern across South Dakota
Editor’s note: This is the first of a four-part series on expansion of CAFOs in South Dakota.
The livestock industry in South Dakota — among the state’s largest economic engines — is undergoing a fundamental transformation that may alter farms, farmers and rural communities for generations to come.
Despite a
What it takes to produce a South Dakota News Watch story
South Dakota News Watch Content Director Bart Pfankuch discusses some of the challenges of producing in-depth articles about significant statewide topics.
Charter school legislation seen as path to improved outcomes for Native students
A push is underway for legislation to allow creation of charter schools that would integrate Indian culture, language and history into a curriculum designed to improve academic achievement among Native American children, who have historically underperformed in South Dakota.
Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free schools run independently of traditional