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Archive for August 2009
Texas Observer Names AP Veteran Chris Tomlinson as Managing Editor
The Texas Observer announced today the appointment of Chris Tomlinson, an award-winning veteran reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief and editor for The Associated Press, as managing editor."Chris has reported from many corners of the globe, but he's always been a Texan at heart," said Observer editor Bob Moser. "His experience as both a reporter and editor runs broad and deep. We're thrilled to have him join our team as we create a new online Observer that will bring our long tradition of fearless investigative reporting and great storytelling to new generations of Texans."
Tomlinson spent 14 years with the AP before coming to the Observer, where he will be in charge of cultural and arts coverage. He will also, this fall, spearhead an ambitious expansion of the online Observer.
Tomlinson succeeds Brad Tyer, who received a coveted Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan.
"I am excited to be part of the team that will take the Observer into the 21st century," Tomlinson said. "We will work hard to introduce the latest technologies that will fill the gaping hole left by the daily newspapers as they cut back. At the same time we will stay true to the Observer's core mission."
Tomlinson most recently served as a correspondent-at-large for The Associated Press, specializing in international investigative reporting. He was the East Africa bureau chief in Nairobi, Kenya, responsible for text, photo and television coverage of 14 countries from June 2004 to August 2007. Tomlinson started with the AP in 1995 as the Central Africa correspondent based in Rwanda. He served two years as an editor at AP's headquarters in New York City and was appointed East Africa correspondent in 2000.
Drawing on his seven years of experience as a U.S. soldier, the AP assigned Tomlinson to cover the war in Afghanistan, where he covered the Battle of Tora Bora. He was chosen as the AP's lead embedded reporter during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and accompanied the first U.S. troops into Baghdad. Tomlinson also has reported extensively from Somalia, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Congo and Sudan.
For his reporting from Iraq in 2003 he won an Associated Press Managing Editors' award and a distinguished reporting award from The Military Reporters and Editors' organization. The New York Association of Black Journalists recognized his reporting from Africa with the 2008 international reporting award. He was also the Minnesota AP reporter of the year in 1997.
Tomlinson was born in Dallas and is a fifth-generation Texan. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992 with special honors in humanities.
"Although the Observer will always maintain its 55-year tradition of the best and strongest investigative reporting in Texas, we are making many changes to keep up with the state's new demographics and the fast-paced technology available to us," said CEO/Publisher Carlton Carl. "Chris Tomlinson has just the right experience and skills to help editor Bob Moser improve the Observer's dynamic coverage and accessibility both in print and online."
Readers will be seeing a lot that's new and exciting in the Observer in the months to come, beginning with the new exclusive "Loon Star State" feature by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ben Sargent, associate editor Dave Mann's new "The Contrarian" blog and reporter Forrest Wilder's "Forrest for the Trees" environment blog. Debuting the week of Aug. 17 will be Melissa del Bosque's blog about border issues and editor Moser's blog about politics and elections.
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Texas Observer Names AP Veteran Chris Tomlinson as Managing Editor
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