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
More South Dakota students going hungry after federal free meal program ends
Thousands of schoolchildren across South Dakota are facing new barriers to getting proper nutrition at school due to the end of a pandemic-era federal program that provided free meals to all students regardless of parental income.
Parents in South Dakota, meanwhile, are facing new financial challenges as they try to
As lawmakers raise questions, election officials in South Dakota defend state’s electoral system
Despite the concerns of some lawmakers and citizens, South Dakota election officials are “very confident” that the state electoral process is sound and that the 2022 general election results will be accurate and valid.
As is the case in almost all states, the South Dakota electoral process has come under
News Watch to host online panel discussion on civility in government and politics on Sept. 29, 2022
In response to recent polling data showing that 79% of registered South Dakota voters believe that civility in America has declined over the past five years, and that only 2.3% of poll respondents said civility is improving, South Dakota News Watch will host an online panel discussion with civility
As 2022 election approaches, vast majority of South Dakota voters see civility declining in America
Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final article based on a recent statewide poll conducted by South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota, and is the latest segment in the ongoing “South Dakota Matters” series of polls and panel
Experts: Timing is right for Sanford Health’s $350M expansion in telemedicine
For those who have watched the slow but steady evolution of telemedicine in South Dakota and across the U.S., the recent announcement by Sanford Health that it is building a $350 million virtual health center in Sioux Falls might seem a bit perplexing.
After all, the telemedicine services provided
Statewide poll shows referendum on recreational marijuana legalization in SD could fail in November
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles based on a July 2022 statewide poll conducted by South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota, and is the latest segment in the ongoing “South Dakota Matters” series of
Fraudulent farmers live lavishly until caught
BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. – Farmers and brokers who commit organic grain fraud have shown a propensity to spend big money on lavish lifestyles until the authorities catch up with them.
When Belle Fourche organic grain broker Kent Duane Anderson turned to fraud, he made millions of dollars and used the