DEADWOOD, S.D. – South Dakota News Watch's journalists won several awards over the weekend at the annual South Dakota NewsMedia Association convention in Deadwood, including the coveted public service award and the top prize in a new specialized contest for coverage of nonprofits.
News Watch CEO Carson Walker also took over as president of SDNA for the next year, succeeding Jason Ferguson, editor of the Custer County Chronicle in Custer, who will remain on the board for one year.
In the all divisions competition, Bart Pfankuch won first place for best freedom of information request for coverage in a series on police videos being off limits to the public and the press in South Dakota.
Also in all divisions, Pfankuch and Walker won first place in the public service contest for News Watch's Engage South Dakota housing solutions series.
That series also earned Pfankuch and Walker first place and $500 each in the inaugural "Strengthening Civil Society" competition for outstanding journalism covering philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. The prize was made possible by an endowment gift from the John T. Vucurevich Foundation to the Black Hills Area Community Foundation. The award was established in 2025 by Eric Abrahamson and Lois Facer in recognition of Abrahamson’s service to the Vucurevich Foundation board of directors.
Here are the News Watch awards from the SDNA editorial division 3 contest, which includes news organizations from the largest population areas:
- Pfankuch, first place in best news series for a story on the local impacts of federal budget cuts
- Pfankuch, first place in best photo series for a story on the need for energy workers
- Molly Wetsch, third place in best features series for an article on the South Dakota film industry
- Megan Luther, second place for best feature story-non-profile for calving goes high tech
Other winners
SDNA named Morgan Matzen, a reporter for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader who covers education issues in South Dakota, Outstanding Young Journalist for 2025.
SDNA also presented awards in various categories for the best journalism and best advertising. General excellence awards were presented to the best overall news media outlets. Sweepstakes awards went to news organizations winning the most awards in their respective divisions.
The SDNA General Excellence winners for 2025:
- Division 1 (cities under 3,000): Hamlin County Republican, Castlewood
- Division 2 (cities 3,000 to 15,000): Madison Daily Leader
- Division 3 (cities over 15,000): Aberdeen Insider
The SDNA Sweepstakes winners for 2025:
- Division 1 (cities under 3,000): Hamlin County Republican, Castlewood
- Division 2 (cities 3,000 to 15,000): Madison Daily Leader
- Division 3 (cities over 15,000): Black Hills Pioneer, Spearfish
The association also presented awards to winners in two specialized contests.
In the Strengthening Civil Society contest, honorable mention awards and cash prizes were presented to Wendy Pitlick ($250) of the Black Hills Pioneer at Spearfish and Randy Dockendorf ($125) and Cora Van Olson ($125) of the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan.
Pitlick reported on the finances of a nonprofit organization providing recreational services for the city of Lead. Dockendorf and Olson reported on the financial struggles and challenges for various non-profit organizations in the Yankton community.
The A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism, sponsored by the A-Mark Foundation, was awarded to four journalists and the news organizations for which they work.
Joshua Haiar of South Dakota Searchlight won first place in the A-Mark contest for his investigative reporting about an extraordinary set of connections between the state of South Dakota and a company receiving a large amount of government financial assistance. The A-Mark Foundation awarded $5,000 to Haiar and $2,500 to South Dakota Searchlight.
Matzen won second place for her reporting about private funds and taxpayer money used by universities and associated foundations to purchase property in and outside of South Dakota. The A-Mark Foundation awarded $3,000 to Matzen and $1,500 to the Argus Leader.
Luke Hagen of the Mitchell Republic and Patrick Lalley of Sioux Falls Live won third place in the A-Mark competition for their ongoing reporting about criminal charges and other issues related to Legion baseball in Mitchell. The A-Mark Foundation awarded $1,000 each to Hagen and Lalley and $1,000 to the Mitchell Republic and Sioux Falls Live.
A complete list of contest results can be found at www.sdna.com.
South Dakota NewsMedia Association, based in Brookings, represents more than 100 newspapers and digital news outlets in South Dakota.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact: info@sdnewswatch.org.
