How South Dakota News Watch uncovered abuses in a youth home and changed state policies
This is the team of four people who formed and launched South Dakota News Watch in February 2018. Since then, the team has grown by one and produced more than 100 long-form journalism pieces. Bart Pfankuch, who wrote the "Treatment or Trauma" series, is second from the right.
It was a story waiting too long for public attention: Some staff members at a rural facility housing young people with behavioral issues had physically, sexually and psychologically abused the children.
South Dakota News Watch uncovered the story in June — resulting in the governor ordering an overhaul of the inspection processes for all youth treatment facilities in the state. The "Treatment or Trauma?" series exposed the harsh physical restraints on the residents that some employees of the facility regularly used — resulting in facial rug burns, black eyes, bloody noses, bruising and injured limbs. The story relied on a dozen on-the-record interviews and documents hard to obtain in a state with weak public records laws.
Without nonprofit news, this story might not have been told.
A man who worked at an institution for adults with mental disabilities had exposed, through a local TV station, mistreatment of fellow employees by management. He then started hearing from people about abuse at the nearby Aurora Plains Academy in Plankinton, which is state funded but privately run. He had paperwork and a list of sources willing to talk. He pitched the story to multiple newspapers and, though there was interest, he couldn’t find a reporter to take on the story.
Media outlets across South Dakota are declining, with 19 fewer weeklies than the state had 15 years ago and newspaper circulation down 36%, according to a University of North Carolina national study. South Dakota News Watch, though only a year old, was committed to spending time unraveling complicated issues across the state. Its content director, Bart Pfankuch, was formerly an editor of the state’s second-largest daily, the Rapid City Journal, and had 30 years of reporting experience. After many phone calls, he and the tipster met to start what would be a six-month reporting process.
South Dakota News Watch freely shares its content and collaborates with news outlets across the state. As a result, the series was referenced in at least 31 outlets, including nine newspapers and five TV stations. When the Argus Leader, the state’s biggest daily, and the four-state TV station KELOLAND picked up the series, Pfankuch said he knew it was going to be a big story.
Clinicare Corp., which owns Aurora Plains Academy, did not allow News Watch into the facility and declined to comment during the reporting. But after publication, the president of the Wisconsin company wrote an op-ed saying the facility complied with South Dakota state statutes and cooperated with state regulators.
Gov. Kristi Noem ordered an overhaul of the oversight and inspection processes for all youth treatment facilities in the state. After the announcement, a parent wrote Pfankuch and called him her hero.
“In 30 years, I've never been called anyone's hero before,” he said. “But it was because no one would listen.”
South Dakota News Watch, with only two full-time journalists, cannot make up for all of the reporters and news coverage lost in the state, but it can still make a difference. When a story emerges, “there is someone who will listen and look into it,” Pfankuch said.
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This is the first in a series taking you behind the scenes of stories selected by the Institute for Nonprofit News for INN’s Best of Nonprofit News 2019 because of their high impact. Statewide reporting takes time and money but builds trust between journalists and the public. This news matters! And without your financial support, stories like this go untold. If you would like to support this kind of high-quality reporting, please donate to South Dakota News Watch or similar newsrooms in your area. From now until Dec. 31, your gift will be doubled by NewsMatch. And a gift to INN will help us nurture and support these newsrooms year-around. All money raised will contribute to journalism that creates change, informs communities and holds those in power accountable.
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Today in NewsMatch
Highlighting resources and member achievements in the annual, matched nonprofit news giving campaign.
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The Akron Devil Strip blew past its first NewsMatch goal of $20,000, just one week into its membership campaign.
Have a NewsMatch question? Email hello@newsmatch.org.
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Opportunities & resources
Apply
- The Solutions Journalism Network is launching the Local Newsroom Revenue Project, which will help newsrooms do high-quality, solutions journalism stories to raise revenue. Ten newsrooms will receive small grants (up to a total of $10,000) to support solutions journalism projects and experiments. Apply by Nov. 30.
- The Columbia J-School is offering three fellowships for local news executives interested in the Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program. The fellowships cover full tuition and fees. Apply by Monday, Dec. 2.
- The Women in Journalism Workshop, May 1 to May 3 at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, is an annual workshop that focuses on challenges, accomplishments and issues specific to women in the journalism industry today. Apply by Dec. 15.
Attend
- Facebook is holding a free elections event in its New York office on Nov. 18 and will feature speakers from its policy and consumer marketing teams. Facebook will also have presentations from CrowdTangle, Instagram and their third-party fact-checking teams. If your organization is nearby, (NYC, Philly, NJ, DC or CT) and has the time to travel, please RSVP as soon as possible.
- New Food Economy has put together a panel at the Columbia J-School on Nov. 20 focusing particularly on the opportunities and challenges of single-subject nonprofit newsrooms. Journalism students, nonprofit journalists and funders interested in the field are more than welcome to attend. Other INN members in attendance include Documented, The Trace, The Hechinger Report and more.
- There are numerous project management products out there to help your organization manage big and small projects. Trying to figure out which one is right for you? Join INN for an informal demo and discussion of workflow tools among INN members on Dec. 5.
Learn
- The National Institute on Money in Politics' new Power Map melds local knowledge and the Institute's massive database of donors and leadership positions to visually identify lawmakers who support or oppose an issue — as well as those who may be undecided. It also displays the outliers — perhaps leading to a story.
- The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing is offering a free webinar — "Become a better business reporter: Learn how to make public records part of your beat reporting" — on Nov. 18. Matt Drange, an investigative reporter at The Information, will "show you how to harness state and federal FOI laws to generate a consistent flow of documents you can use on any beat."
- Local news organizations are facing a daunting financial future. In this era of waning trust and financial support, what are the prospects for sustaining this fundamental democratic institution? Register for a Dec. 5 webinar, during which the findings from the latest John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Gallup news studies will be discussed.
Have an opportunity to share with INN members? Email news@inn.org.
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In Case You Missed It
- Most Americans – 86 percent – think people should have access to local news, even if they don’t pay for it, according to a new Gallup/Knight study.
Knight Foundation
- Opinion: The networks should rebroadcast the impeachment hearings during prime time, so that Americans who are committed 9 to 5 can watch them from start to finish.
The Nation
- Los Angeles Times reporter Esmeralda Bermudez on what journalists should consider when reporting on people who look and sound like them.
The GroundTruth Project
- Learn your audience, be frank, decide how to best reach your audience: Tips from the advertising world on drawing attention to your story.
International Journalists' Network
- How the Salt Lake Tribune filed to become a nonprofit with the IRS — and how the IRS responded.
Nieman Lab
- Big tech companies are creating products to stimulate subscribers for news and magazines.
FIPP
- Since the Google News shutdown in Spain, overall traffic to news sites went largely unchanged.
News Media Alliance
- Over 265 fake local news sites in more than 65 countries are managed by an Indian influence network — Here's how the EU DisinfoLab uncovered this network meant to manage the EU and the UN.
EU DisinfoLab
- NewsFuel, a grant-matchmaking platform from Accelerate Local, aims to fund 1,000 journalism jobs in 3 years.
Local Media Association
- Whether your outlet offers subscriptions or memberships, it's key to think critically about which is better for your audience.
A Media Operator
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Membership News
Celebrating member achievements — Congratulations:
To NowCastSA, which launched an Intern Hall of Fame section on its website, going back to its founding in the fall of 2009. Over 10 years, the outlet has had 35 interns, 75% of whom were people of color.
To The Marshall Project, which celebrated its fifth birthday.
To InsideClimate News's Nicholas Kusnetz, who was recognized in the 2019 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards.
To Oklahoma Watch and Rocky Mountain PBS for being selected in the first class of partners in Frontline's Local Journalism Initiative.
To the Center for Responsive Politics, which was awarded an investment by members of the Leadership Now Project to turbo-charge the essential money-in-politics information on its website, Opensecrets.org.
To Latino USA, a Futuro Media Group property; “The Return” recently won gold for Best Documentary at the Third Coast/Richard H. Dreihaus Foundation Competition.
To National Parks Traveler for being recognized by the Western National Parks Association with its 2019 Stewart L. Udall Award.
To the New Jersey Sustainability Reporting Hub on the launch of the first-of-its-kind collaborative media project intended to amplify news about environmental sustainability from around the state, led by CivicStory. The first 12 multimedia stories are out now.
Impact:
The Texas court stopped Rodney Reed’s execution to further review claims of innocence, after a profile on Reed was published in Injustice Watch's Unrequited Innocence series.
Do you have news to share or want to submit a profile of your nonprofit news organization? Tell us at news@inn.org.
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Upcoming award deadlines
To keep up with journalism awards, download INN’s Google Calendar or view upcoming awards on INN’s calendar. If you know of an award not featured, help us out by submitting here or emailing awards@inn.org.
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INN, Nonprofit News Strategies
Sue Cross | Email | @suecross
Membership
Mara Jezior | Email | @marajezior
Learning + Training
Fran Scarlett | Email
Services & Collaboration
Jonathan Kealing | Email | @JKealing
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Fiscal Sponsorship, Business Services
Chip Potts | Email
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Kay Lima | Email | @kayleen_lima
Development
Larry Horne | Email
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