14 Facts About Tom Shales

Thomas William Shales was an American writer and television critic.

Tom Shales was a television critic for The Washington Post from 1977 to 2010, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1988.

Tom Shales wrote a column for the television news trade publication NewsPro, published by Crain Communications.

Tom Shales served as the station's disc jockey, local news reporter, writer and announcer, on both the AM and FM bands.

Tom Shales later worked with Voice of America as a producer of broadcasts to the Far East.

Tom Shales worked as entertainment editor at the DC Examiner, a tabloid newspaper, from 1968 to 1971.

Tom Shales joined The Washington Post as a writer in the Style section in 1972, was named chief television critic in July 1977, and was appointed TV editor in June 1979.

Tom Shales's influence was such that shows he panned would sometimes include unflattering references to him as inside jokes.

Tom Shales called such barbs "a TV critic's only shot at immortality".

In 1988, Tom Shales received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for his work at The Washington Post, including his coverage of the Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination hearings.

Tom Shales was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1991 to 1996.

In 2006, Tom Shales ceased to be a staff writer for the Post and went on contract, where he remained until 2010, when he was laid off entirely by the newspaper.

Tom Shales published four books, including two he co-wrote with James Andrew Miller.

Tom Shales died from COVID-19 and kidney failure at a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 13,2024, at the age of 79.