Chris Tomlinson
Recipient of the STAR OPINION WRITER OF THE YEAR award in THE CHARLES E. GREEN AWARDS (2021)
Chris Tomlinson
Houston Chronicle
Michael A. Smith
Judge’s Comments:
The stars of Texas opinion journalism shine bright in this year’s contest for the Charles E. Green Award.
Take Chris Lykins, executive editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, who held a mirror up to his community when, among other things, he took on a state representative who said his march on the nation’s capitol two weeks earlier was “old news.”
Wrote Chris: “While Comal County is unquestionably conservative, it has been the type of small-business, good-neighbor conservatism built more around improving our communities than in scoring ideological points. (Kyle) Biedermann, on the other hand, represents a type of conservatism largely reserved for the folks on the other side of the Pine Curtain in East Texas. Shouty, showy, where ideology isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing.”
Or Laura Elder, managing editor of the Galveston Daily News, who opened readers’ eyes to the abject failure of remote learning, the vicious cycle of vaccine myths and the ugly allegations that local teachers made against their superintendent after being ordered back to work.
Wrote Laura: "Teachers have a right to complain and be heard. But resorting to anonymous websites filled with innuendo is a toxic and unprofessional approach best left to people who don’t work closely with impressionable children."
Or Jeff Pownall, managing editor of the Lufkin Daily News, who called out Angelina County’s crisis in emergency medical services, the 60% of residents who remain unvaccinated and a county commissioner who pleaded no contest to continuous family violence.
Wrote Jeff: “Unfortunately, the case against (Bobby) Cheshire is just the latest incident of a systemic problem that has played out repeatedly over roughly the last 30 years. Multiple sexual harassment and criminal indictments in which commissioners play a prominent role tend to do that.”
But this year’s standout star in opinion writing is Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson, whose columns about the winter storm that caused the Texas power grid to collapse — causing some 200 deaths and billions of dollars in property damage — stand above the rest.
Chris tells it like it is, helps readers make sense of things and holds the powerful to account.
Just two days into the disaster, Chris wrote: Two cold nights without electricity is all Texans need to jump to the wrong conclusions about the state’s electricity grid. Internet trolls shared photos of helicopters spraying wind turbine blades and blamed renewable energy for the state’s failure to provide light and warmth to 4 million households during a cold snap forecasted more than a week in advance. That is not what happened.”
Neither, Chris wrote, were Houston’s and San Antonio’s utility companies to blame. In short order, he rightly placed the blame on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the grid that supplies power to most Texans.
Like a dog with a bone, Chris never let go. When, with great fanfare, the legislature did almost nothing to address the cause of the collapse, he wrote: “No lawmaking body does a better job of applying cosmetics to the porcine than the Texas Legislature, and the bills intended to prevent more blackouts are the latest, greatest examples.”
And after digesting a 300-page Federal Energy Regulatory Commission report on the disaster, Chris matter-of-factly wrote that “once again, Texas officials are misleading the public … Based on this latest report, Texans are as vulnerable now as they were in February.”
Chris is fearless and relentless. He says something you want to hear. He writes about topics that few have the expertise or courage to tackle. His richly-reported insight helps you think. His experience as a state capital reporter and a soldier allows him to write with authority on various subjects. His short sentences make his writing accessible. You feel smarter after reading Chris’s columns. You find yourself eager to see what he has to say next.
Chris Tomlinson went above and beyond this year in serving Texas, his readers and the craft of opinion journalism. He is the most richly deserving recipient of the Charles E. Green Award for star opinion writer of the year.
Rosemary O’Hara
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Judge’s Bio:
Rosemary O’Hara is the editorial page editor of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, a position she’s held since 2012. Previously, she was the editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. In 2019, Rosemary was a member of the Sun Sentinel team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of the many government breakdowns in and around the shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Also in 2019, she helped create The Invading Sea, an editorial board collaboration with the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, with reporting help from WLRN Public Media. Today, the collaboration includes 25 Florida editorial boards.
A native of Upper Michigan, Rosemary graduated from the University of Florida, and has completed journalism fellowships at Stanford University, Columbia University and USC. She’s also served on several state and national journalism boards. Rosemary regularly appears on television and radio in South Florida, and was named by Influence Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in Florida politics. She lives in Fort Lauderdale with her husband, Tom O’Hara.
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