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
Lawmaker considers limiting new Black Hills water usage
Idea was prompted by USGS study that found some underground aquifers aren't recharging fast enough to keep up with growth.
7.5 million pounds of chemicals released by SD industry in 2024
Toxic chemical byproducts of industry in South Dakota are released into the air, water and land each year. EPA: Most were treated prior to release and were within regulatory limits.
Black Hills water supplies not meeting demand, study says
Water sources are not sufficiently recharging in the most populous areas of western South Dakota. Is a $2 billion Missouri River pipeline the answer?
Federal cuts roundup: The impact on South Dakota
A list of the effects of federal job cuts, program reductions and hiring freezes in the state.
Redfield rebuilds housing stock: 1 lot and 1 house at a time
Small towns may have to tackle a small project first in order to encourage larger developments down the road.
Ranchers found guilty of animal mistreatment and illegal sales
"Crops and cattle are among the most beloved things (in the state). ... You had critters here who were completely dependent on the defendants for their lives, and for whatever reason, they neglected that duty."
Medicaid cuts in federal budget could hit rural health hard in SD
While the full effects aren't yet known, rural health providers expect bad news and potentially ominous outcomes. "It could lead to people being more sick and also some more people dying before they would otherwise."