A writing journey we’ll take together
Bart Pfankuch
Better Writing
with Bart
Jim Stasiowski, a veteran writing coach whose superb writing advice appeared in the Bulletin for many years, has retired.
Beginning with this...
Producing relevant content requires knowing your community
Editors are regularly challenged: What mix of stories and photos will collectively make this edition a “must see” for readers and advertisers? There is...
Keep eye out for 11th-hour election volleys
Election Day is only weeks away. The hyper-partisanship of races at all levels – from local to state to federal – demands that editors...
Start planning now to produce year-end edition
The Hallmark Channel wrapped up its movie lineup for those who love to celebrate Christmas in July. With fall now upon us, it is...
Moving from routine to highly relevant: How to improve meeting coverage
This column is aimed at every single journalist working anywhere in the world now and in the future.
Don’t let pursuit of ‘shiny things’ diminish reporting
All journalists can look back decades or even just a few months to see examples of the “shiny things” that distract us from our...
Five key focus points on the path to a great story
Bart Pfankuch is an investigative reporter for South Dakota News Watch. Write to him at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.
Anyone who
has...
Digging deeper: How to find opportunities (and time) to go in-depth
Bart Pfankuch is the content director for South Dakota News Watch, an online public-service journalism group. He can be reached...
Be responsible in exercising rights to public information
A divorce is finalized, but it is not recorded in the newspaper until four months later.
Someone appears in court for a domestic assault, but...
All hail the hard-news lead
We all love a good yarn, a tale told with colorful detail and interesting characters who face challenges and change over time.
For years, both...