News Watch October update: Whitney, Pfankuch receive honors

South Dakota News Watch's journalists recently picked up a couple of honors, Janelle Toman joins News Watch board and the U.S. Library of Congress is going to archive the SDNW website. Here's the latest news about News Watch.

Whitney chosen for election fellowship

Investigative reporter Stu Whitney was among 34 journalists selected to participate in the National Press Foundation’s 2024 Elections Journalism Fellowship in Detroit. The journalist-fellows represented nonprofit and local newsrooms as well as national outlets such as Axios, CNN and Politico.

Speakers included Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Matthew Weil of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Democracy Program.

Whitney is applying what he learned to our political coverage, including in the South Dakota voter guide.

Medical association honors Pfankuch

Content director Bart Pfankuch gave a presentation at the annual South Dakota State Medical Association Leadership Conference in Rapid City about his reporting on the barriers to health care access in rural and reservation areas of the state.

That two-part series (part 1 and part 2) was developed through extensive interviews, data analysis and field work across the state. It was funded through a fellowship by the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California.

Pfankuch then joined a panel and also was given the 2024 SDSMA Richard P. Holm Media Award for his latest work as well as articles dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toman joins SDNW board

Janelle Toman, a veteran of journalism and state communications, of Pierre has joined the South Dakota News Watch board of directors.

Raised on a farm near Wessington, she pursued her undergraduate degree in journalism at South Dakota State University, leading to work at the Mitchell Republic and United Press International.

She worked for 20 years as communicators director for the South Dakota Board of Regents and earlier managed communications and policy work for the state departments of Labor and Education and was press secretary for Govs. George S. Mickelson and Walter D. Miller.

Toman holds graduate degrees from Golden Gate University and the University of South Dakota.

Library of Congress nod

Finally, the U.S. Library of Congress has selected the South Dakota News Watch website for inclusion in the United States News Web Archive. That’s part of a larger collection of historically and culturally significant websites that have been designated for preservation.