South Dakota NewsMedia Association
Founded in 1882
Since 2025, the South Dakota NewsMedia Association has awarded the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism in South Dakota. The Prize recognizes excellence in investigative reporting in the state of South Dakota. This contest is open to all news media organizations based in South Dakota and their staff members, including 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.
A-Mark Prize Recipients
2026
First Place
Joshua Haiar, “Company that hired state’s former head of economic development benefits from $69 million in aid,” South Dakota Searchlight (Link)
Second Place
Morgan Matzen, “See where SD universities, foundations spent millions on property,” Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Third Place
Luke Hagen and Patrick Lalley, “SD American Legion says coach, board must go before allowing Mitchell baseball back on field,” Mitchell Republic and Sioux Falls Live (Links: 1, 2, 3, 4; create a free account to read these articles)
2025
First Place
Ted McDermott, “Deadly Pattern: Police kill Native Americans at a rate five times that of whites and three times of Blacks. Why?” (PDF) Rapid City Journal
Second Place
Lee Strubinger, “Short Walk,” South Dakota Public Broadcasting
Third Place
Joe Sneve, Austin Goss and Jonathan Ellis, “Spotlighting government scandal: A year of public corruption in South Dakota,” The Dakota Scout (Link)