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South Dakota NewsMedia Association and the A-Mark Foundation have teamed up to create the
A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism in South Dakota with cash awards totaling $15,000

​The first-place prize awards $5,000 to the journalist and $2,500 to the news organization. Second place awards $3,000 to the journalist and $1,500 to the news organization. Third place awards $2,000 to the journalist and $1,000 to the newsroom.

The contest for the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism will be open to all journalists and all news organizations in South Dakota. (See details below.)

South Dakota NewsMedia Association represents the state’s newspapers and various digital news outlets. The A-Mark Foundation (amarkfoundation.org) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in 1997.

2024 CONTEST CRITERIA

This award will recognize excellence in investigative reporting. For this contest, investigative reporting will be defined as the development of information about government, organizations, businesses, institutions or individuals that is not readily available to journalists and requires exceptional skill and effort by the journalist. In many cases, the subjects of the reporting wish the matters under scrutiny to remain undisclosed. Information should be presented in a way that gives readers understanding and insight into subject matter that is not generally known to the public.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

  • Substantially the work product of the journalist’s own initiative and effort.

  • Uncovers facts that someone or some agency may have tried to keep from public scrutiny.

  • • Be about issues of public importance to the readers, viewers or listeners

  • Shows enterprise and excellence in documentation, data, storytelling, production, online presentation, and reader or viewer involvement where appropriate

  • Results.​

This contest is open to all news media organizations based in South Dakota and their staff members and includes newspapers, broadcast outlets and digital-only platforms. Freelance journalists based in South Dakota whose reporting is published or aired by South Dakota news media organizations are also eligible to enter. Entries must have been published or aired during 2024 (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2024). Entries must also include a written statement (500 words or less) outlining the background and scope of the entry and any potential outcomes resulting from the reporting. There is no fee to enter. Entries are limited to one per individual or team. An individual who is part of a team may also enter their own stand-alone entry.

Deadline to enter: 11:59 p.m. Central; Friday, January 24, 2025

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Open meetings short course would be good government

By David Bordewyk The theme for this year’s National Newspaper Week is “Telling Our Stories” – a reminder about the role of newspapers in reporting the important stories in their communities. Stories that run the gamut: human-interest features, football game recaps, new businesses in town and, of course, local government meetings. Keeping an eye on government and informing readers about public board meetings are among the most important jobs for a community newspaper. Sometimes, the local newspaper reporter may be the only person sitting in the audience for a city council or school board meeting. South Dakota’s open meetings laws provide a road map for how government boards must notify citizens about upcoming public meetings and how they conduct certain aspects of their meetings. At times, the open meetings laws can be confusing and lead to misunderstanding. Over the years, newspapers have reported many stories about problems related to compliance with our state’s open meetings laws. Among the cases that have come before the South Dakota Open Meetings Commission since its inception in 2004 are those rooted in the fact that public officials did not properly understand the laws and they unknowingly violated them. That is why South Dakota NewsMedia Association – which represents the state’s newspapers and various digital news outlets – will support a bill in the 2025 legislature that would require all public boards to review the open meetings laws once a year. We believe a little refresher course each year would go a long way toward eliminating those unintended violations and missteps involving these important laws. The proposal as currently drafted is straightforward: “All public bodies of the state and its political subdivisions as part of their annual organizational meeting or at the first regular official meeting of each year shall review the open meetings laws in SDCL 1-25 or as explained in the ‘Guide to South Dakota’s Open Meetings Laws,’ prepared by the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.” That’s it. No heavy mandate and no expenditures of tax dollars. Just a bit of time devoted annually to reviewing the open meetings laws. The open meetings guide prepared by the South Dakota attorney general is an ideal educational tool to help public boards complete an annual review. You can find it on the attorney general’s website (www.atg.sd.gov) under the “legal resources” tab. Most government boards in South Dakota are comprised of citizens who volunteer their time and energy to serve in a public role. A little education will go a long way toward supporting our volunteer public officials in navigating an important set of open government laws. This would be especially helpful given the natural turnover of boards either by elections or other means. Open government is akin to good government. We believe our legislative proposal will reinforce both of those important ideals. David Bordewyk is executive director of the South Dakota NewsMedia Association, which represents the state’s newspapers and various digital news outlets.

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David Bordewyk

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'Support Matters'
storefront now open!

The 'Support Matters' t-shirt fundraiser for the SDNA Foundation was a success! If you missed out on the pre-order, please CLICK HERE to visit the 'Support Matters' storefront and order today. Limited colors and sizes are still available. Proceeds benefit the South Dakota NewsMedia Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting education and professional development opportunities for news media.

Thank you to everyone that purchased a shirt and contributed to supporting the SDNA Foundation.

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