South Dakota News Watch is staffed by a chief executive officer, investigative journalists, freelance journalists and interns.
Carson Walker
Title: chief executive officer
Contact: 605-610-9366 / carson.walker@sdnewswatch.org
Language spoken: English
Demographic expertise: South Dakota and its people. Walker has traveled the entire state extensively throughout his journalism career and understands the uniqueness of all regions, including rural areas, small towns, cities and reservations
Topic expertise: Government, politics, crime and the legal system, Indigenous issues, the environment, agriculture, business, education, health care, religion, editing, investigative journalism, leadership, innovation
Biography: Walker, an Iowa native, was inspired to go into journalism in his teens as a newspaper carrier for The Des Moines Register, his first job. He was a radio announcer and reporter while studying journalism and political science at Colorado State University. Walker began his career as a reporter, photojournalist, producer and anchor at KDLT-TV in Sioux Falls, where he also served as news director after six years as a beat reporter at the Argus Leader. His experience includes 17 years at The Associated Press as a writer, broadcast editor and news editor in South Dakota, and an editor and supervisor on the national filing desk in Phoenix. He also held communications and video positions at the University of South Dakota and Sanford Health, where he launched and managed a crowdsourcing platform for the innovations team. Walker lives in Sioux Falls, has four adult children and one grandchild, and runs, cycles, hikes and skis.
Professional memberships: Investigative Reporters and Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association, Downtown Sioux Falls Rotary, Startup Sioux Falls
Social platforms: X/Twitter; LinkedIn
Archive of work: South Dakota News Watch; Muck Rack; Sanford Health News
Bart Pfankuch
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
Megan Luther
Title: freelance investigative reporter
Contact: megan.luther@sdnewswatch.org
Language spoken: English
Demographic expertise: central South Dakota and rural areas
Topic expertise: rural issues, adoption, addiction, demographics and data
Potential conflict of interest: Luther is a member of the Mitchell Area Inclusion Coalition, which works to welcome all new residents to Mitchell. Luther’s family runs independent grocery stores. She will recuse herself from reporting on the industry and organization.
Biography: Luther has lived in South Dakota for more than three decades. She has worked in radio, TV, print and digital newsrooms, including the Argus Leader and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She also served as editor and training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors, an educational nonprofit for journalists. Most recently, Luther was an investigative producer for InvestigateTV, the national investigation team for Gray Television stations. Luther has won multiple state, regional and national journalism awards and lives in Mitchell.
Professional memberships: Investigative Reporters and Editors
Social platforms: X/Twitter; LinkedIn Instagram
Archive of work: South Dakota News Watch
Michael Klinski
Title: engagement specialist (freelance)
Contact: 605-370-8568 / michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org
Languages spoken: English and some French
Demographic expertise: South Dakota
Topic expertise: childcare issues, South Dakota history/current events/politics, criminal justice and crime, college and high school sports and its cultural impact in South Dakota, data journalism, graphics, charts, maps
Demographic expertise: South Asian community (India, Pakistan, Nepal) through local cricket club, Sioux Falls immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, Indigenous issues in western South Dakota
Biography: Klinski brings a lifelong knowledge of South Dakota (both East River and West River) and 17 years of journalism experience to News Watch. He runs the site's social media channels and website and produces all of the interactive graphics and visual elements. Klinski was born in England on a military base and moved to Ellsworth Air Force Base when he was 2. His family moved to Black Hawk near Rapid City when he was 4, and he graduated from Rapid City Stevens High School. He earned a degree in journalism at the University of South Dakota, where he was the editor of The Volante student newspaper. After a brief stint with the Fargo Forum, he moved to Sioux Falls to work at the Argus Leader in 2005. He stayed there for 17 years, working as a reporter, copy editor, page designer, social media coordinator, breaking news editor, content coach, graphic designer and digital news editor. While at the Argus Leader, he was employee of the year (2014), editorial writer of the year in South Dakota (2015) and won various statewide editing and reporting awards. In 2022, he took a voluntary buyout and started working in marketing at SDN Communications, a regional business internet provider. One of his hobbies is playing cricket in Sioux Falls. He and his wife, Marsa, have four teens: twins Ian and Hayden, Emma and Ethan.
Social platform: LinkedIn
Professional memberships: South Dakota American Advertising Federation
Archive of work: most South Dakota News Watch graphics
Melissa Avelino
Title: Investigative reporter
Contact: melissa.avelino@sdnewswatch.org
Languages spoken: Portuguese and English
Biography: Melissa Avelino dos Santos is an international student from Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil, entering her junior year at Augustana University in Sioux Falls. She received a Scripps Howard Fund Internship and is pursuing a double major in journalism, focusing on data journalism and data science, with minors in mathematics and science writing. At Augustana, Melissa has developed a passion for reporting and data-driven storytelling. As a staff journalist for the university yearbook, she has collaborated with a diverse team to cover campus events and craft compelling narratives. Her experience has sparked a growing interest in multimedia journalism and using data to uncover and explain stories that matter. Melissa brings a global perspective to her work, informed by her background and her role as a volunteer ambassador for the Augustana Cultural Exchange (ACE) program. There, she helped mentor new international students, strengthening her intercultural communication and deepening her belief in journalism’s role in fostering understanding. With a blend of technical skills and storytelling passion, Melissa aspires to become a versatile advertising and data storyteller — one who doesn’t just report facts but engages audiences through thoughtful, culturally informed narratives.
Emily DeCock
Title: investigative reporter
Contact: emily.decock@sdnewswatch.org
Languages spoken: English
Biography: Emily DeCock is a student at South Dakota State University in Brookings majoring in journalism. In fall 2025 she will start her third and final year at SDSU, where she will serve as editor-in-chief of Collegian Media, SDSU’s student-run independent news source. Emily received the 2025 Jeffrey B. Nelson Investigative Journalism Endowed Internship and Chuck Raasch and Sandy Johnson Scholarship, which covers her tuition expenses, from the SDSU Foundation. Emily grew up in Lamberton, Minnesota. Though no journalism courses were offered at her high school, she always had a love for writing. During her second year at SDSU, she declared journalism as her major and became an editor of the Collegian. She has had amazing experiences since. She has interviewed South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, reported on state and federal policies affecting students and covered numerous Students’ Association senate meetings through her position. These opportunities grew her love and understanding of the university and field of journalism. Emily believes strong student media is vital to creating inspired young journalists. As editor-in-chief, she hopes to continue the culture of exceptional student journalism at SDSU.