Bart Pfankuch
Reporter, South Dakota News Watch
Reporter, South Dakota News Watch
Bart Pfankuch was a reporter and editor for nearly 30 years when in 2018 he became the founding journalist for a new nonprofit journalism start-up, South Dakota News Watch, where he is now content director and investigative reporter. He has developed a specialty in reporting on the top issues in the state, including agriculture, poverty, education and health care, with a focus on exposing inequities and wrongdoing, and presenting potential solutions to problems. In his time at News Watch, he has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for investigative reporting, business reporting, beat reporting and photography. In 2020, 2021 and 2023, he was named the top agricultural reporter in the nation, the first three-time winner in the history of the North American Agricultural Journalists association.
A key interview proved elusive for one reporter, but building trust and showing up in-person made a crucial difference in the end.
Patchwork system of health care in rural and reservation areas of South Dakota complicates care. This is the second of a two-part series on rural and reservation health care.
A weekslong investigation revealed numerous barriers to health care in rural and reservation areas of South Dakota that are leading to increased illness and higher mortality rates. This is the first of a two-part series.
Outside a few cities, mental health and substance abuse treatment is almost nonexistent in the state, resulting in a wide range of mental and health problems left untreated.