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 310 Posts
Concerns grow as more kids are caught vaping in SD schools
School districts from Sioux Falls to Spearfish are grappling with an increase in students who are “vaping” on campus.
Students – some as young as middle schoolers – inhale from hand-held devices that heat liquid gels into an aerosol containing nicotine and flavored compounds.
Generically known as e-cigarettes, the vaping pens and
Faded pavement markings make South Dakota roads less safe
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Driving on East North Street in Rapid City can be trying. In the 100 block, the four-lane road curves up a hill into a busy commercial district. Pedestrian traffic can be heavy and cars frequently turn on and off the street from nearby homes, motels and
Wind farm surge drawing vocal opposition in South Dakota
HIGHMORE, S.D. – After years of lagging behind neighboring states, South Dakota is suddenly poised for dramatic growth in wind energy production.
That means hundreds more wind towers are headed to South Dakota in a frantic pace that could triple the size of the wind industry in the state over
Messy debate: Waste piping issue pits neighbors against large farming operations
BIG STONE CITY, S.D. – Kathy Tyler drove past a section of Grant County farmland she owns in the fall of 2016 and noticed that a metal culvert had been installed under a small driveway on her land.
No one had asked permission to be on her property or alerted
Payday loans gone, but need for quick cash remains
RAPID CITY, S.D. – For 15 years, South Dakota residents who needed a small amount of money in a hurry could turn to storefront lenders who made so-called payday loans at annual interest rates that could rise well over 500 percent.
The industry thrived, and payday lending businesses that made
Black Hills gold mine plan ignites protests
ROCHFORD, S.D. – One paved road leads in and out of Rochford, a remote Pennington County town that suddenly has become the center of a heated and growing debate over a proposal to mine for gold in a pristine part of the northern Black Hills.
With state permits in hand,
Sales tax breaks: Consumers pay, big businesses get exemptions
You pay it when you buy a pair of jeans, a couch or a loaf of bread. Many shoppers don’t even notice the small tax assessed at the bottom of the sales receipt.
But Margaret Straley does. And last month, the Sioux Falls woman’s explanation to lawmakers how