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
Poll shows strong public support for removal of SD attorney general
As the South Dakota Legislature prepares to undertake impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who killed a pedestrian with his car in 2020, a new poll shows that a strong majority of state residents is in favor of removing him from office.
The late October poll of 500 registered
Investigation part 3: Lawmakers call for inquiry into Cammack COVID grants
Two South Dakota legislators are calling for further investigation into more than $700,000 in state COVID relief grants given to Chris Cammack, son of Senate Majority Leader Gary Cammack.
The calls for deeper inquiry into the grants follow an Oct. 11 South Dakota News Watch investigation that raised questions
Investigation part 4: Federal government relied largely on local lenders to vet more than $800 billion in COVID loans
Significant direct oversight of the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which provided more than $800 billion in forgivable loans to U.S. business during the pandemic, was placed in the hands of the community banks and lending institutions that issued the loans.
Jaime Wood, South Dakota director for the U.S.
Donations to South Dakota News Watch doubled from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2021
If you are in favor of a well-informed citizenry, accountability of government and a better life for all South Dakotans, there’s never been a better time to donate to South Dakota News Watch.
From Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, donors can double the impact of their gift to News
Rising prices for meat and other groceries placing financial burden on South Dakota families
Rising food prices have added another financial burden on South Dakota families already facing increased costs for essential goods and services during the pandemic and amid a recent spike in inflation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the average price of food bought for home consumption has risen at double the typical
Investigation part 1: Questions arise over COVID grants received by state senator’s son
UNION CENTER, S.D. – The son of a South Dakota state senator received more than $1 million in COVID relief funding for a business he says is located in Union Center but which public records and other data indicate actually operates in Texas.
Chris Cammack, son of Senate Majority Leader
Investigation Part 2: South Dakota outsourced management and auditing of COVID relief grants
The state Bureau of Finance and Management is not conducting its own auditing of individual grant applications or grants awarded under the Coronavirus Relief Fund, according to Colin Keeler, director of financial systems in the department.
The state hired an independent firm to manage both the application and award process