Business coverage vital to your product and community
Editors are regularly solicited to publish news that puts merchants in good standing. In small communities, grip-and-grin photos of check presentations often dominate the...
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...
The Art of the Interview: How to get the goods during COVID-19
The basis for almost all great journalism is the interview, the act of obtaining information from a source. With less in-person meetings...
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...
Special projects energize staff, community
I fondly characterize newsrooms as organized chaos. That definition has aptly described operations for the past 18 months with the impact of COVID-19. The...
Plan now to recognize first responders
Are you looking for a project that can energize your news staff, generate new advertising revenue and underscore the value of a local newspaper...
Objectivity: a noble idea that requires a process
Bart Pfankuch is the content director and an investigative reporter for South Dakota News Watch. Contact him at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org
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...
Press politicians on election promises
Elections are over, and you breathe a sigh of relief. The exhaustive campaign season has concluded, and newsrooms can return to some level of...
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...