Title: content director / investigative reporter
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 307 Posts
Unexpected expenses: State project costs jump by millions
South Dakota taxpayers could pay millions of dollars in unexpected expenses caused by inflation and workforce challenges that are hitting the construction industry.
Nine bills have been filed in the current legislative session in Pierre to increase funding for construction projects that were passed in prior years but have gotten
CEO of large SD non-profit agency remains in his job despite federal sexual harassment settlement
Editor’s note: This article is the result of a reporting collaboration between South Dakota News Watch Content Director Bart Pfankuch and Kristi Hine, editor of the True Dakotan newspaper in Wessington Springs.
WAGNER, S.D. – The director of one of the largest non-profit social service agencies in South Dakota
Hurdles to homeownership: Why buying a home is out of reach for many South Dakota residents
A series of economic factors has coalesced over the past two years to make it extremely difficult or even impossible for many people in South Dakota to achieve the American Dream of homeownership.
The price of new and existing homes has skyrocketed in recent years at a time when modest
Hurdles to Homeownership in South Dakota: Sign up now to watch Dec. 15 online panel discussion
Is the American Dream of homeownership fading in South Dakota?
Experts differ on whether that is completely true, but it’s clear to everyone in the South Dakota housing ecosystem that in the current real estate market, purchasing a home has become harder than ever if not impossible for many
Dangerous, potentially deadly distracted driving remains a hard habit to break in South Dakota
South Dakota lawmaker Doug Barthel, a former police chief in Sioux Falls, tried to make state roadways safer from distracted drivers by spearheading passage of a law in 2020 to restrict cell phone use behind the wheel.
The South Dakota law allows cell phone use in a vehicle, but only
With a campaign focused on character, Jamie Smith sees ‘genuine’ shot at upsetting Gov. Kristi Noem
RAPID CITY, S.D. – On debate night in South Dakota, Karen Marso parked her car and quickly scooted across a road in Rapid City to join a group of three dozen backers of gubernatorial candidate Jamie Smith.
The gaggle of Smith supporters was there to await the arrival of the
Student meals part 2: Congressional action sought to revive free meal program
Supporters of universal free meals for all schoolchildren in America are looking to the U.S. Congress for continued funding, either in a spending measure or the 2023 Farm Bill.
Bu so far, no measure to extend the free meal program exists in Washington, D.C., and South Dakota’s