Shortcut the News: Find Your Tom Nichols
It’s hard to stay informed of controversial topics these days.
I am a news junkie and follow the news in the way others follow sports or binge on a TV series. But by the time Trump took office, following any controversial topic felt too difficult, time-consuming, and at times unhealthy.
I developed a solution that I call, “Find Your Tom Nichols.” Tom exemplifies how I obtain high-quality information and analysis on an important topic to me. I will explain how you can find your own Tom Nichols.
Broken News
A few decades ago it was easier to follow the news. We had trusted voices covering roughly the same stories applying the same journalistic standards. They reported dispassionately, and the news was often boring.
CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC arrived and new online publications launched. I assumed more news sources would lead to a more informed citizenry. I was wrong.
Today, each media outlet features different headlines and definitions of breaking news. We’ve lost the concept of shared facts.
The media knows what each segment wants to hear, and the producers and editors hand-craft the news to soothe and reaffirm the audience’s worldview. This chart reads “Media Bias,” but it’s really Marketing 101: “Audience Segmentation & Targeting.”
The news reporting at the top of the chart is still high quality. But where does one go for less biased analysis or opinion that educates, informs, and challenges my own views? I decided to curate a team to help me.
Curated News Team
Twitter is a noisy public place. But I hypothesized I could use Twitter Lists to add a dozen analysis and opinion accounts. I aspirationally titled my list, “Moderating Political Voices.”
At first, I followed high-profile public and media voices from both sides. It was loud, obnoxious and stressful. I unfollowed all of them within a week. I then added former political party officials watching from the sidelines. The tone and observations improved, but they were mostly uncritical of their party. The greatest value was that they introduced me - via retweets - to people who sought to inform, rather than persuade.
I found my source of truth and signal: long-form writers, legal experts, historians, fact-checkers, and professors to the left and right of my personal views.
Anytime I checked in on the news, I first visited my list:
If everyone was discussing the same topic, I knew something big happened.
If everyone was discussing different topics, I knew it was a slow news day.
Once a major story broke, this group shared context, history, frameworks, high-quality articles, and patiently discussed the issue with followers in their feed.
My list was not static. As new topics emerged, I added and subtracted accounts from the team.
As I skimmed the tweets of my team, there was one account that saved me the most time, taught me the most, and protected my mental health. The account belonged to Tom Nichols.
Tom Nichols / @RadioFreeTom
I started following him in January 2017, when I heard about his upcoming book, “The Death of Expertise.” He is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, an expert on Russia & nuclear weapons, worked on Capitol Hill and in the Nixon administration. He is also a five-time Jeopardy Champion. Tom likes Top 40 songs, cats, war simulation video games, and only recently found an Indian food dish that he likes. He was a member of the Republican party until recently.
Tom and I could not be more opposite from one another.
Where Tom and I converge is on the top problems we see in the world which broadly could be described as threats on democracy. Here’s the best part: Tom does the hard work of scanning, processing, discussing, guessing, and staying calm.
To find your Tom Nichols in climate change, immigration, or whatever topic concerns you the most, consider finding someone with attributes similar to Tom’s:
The Professor
When big news breaks, Tom focuses on first principles. He defines terms, adds historical context, provides frameworks, etc. He pre-empts temptations on both sides to be upset or defensive. (Thread)
Insider Intuition
Experts like Tom have an uncanny sense of knowing what’s likely to be fact or fiction. Days or months later his assessment or intuition generally prove to be true.
Play-by-Play Announcer
Like a good football analyst, experts like Tom see movements on the playing field the average viewer will not see. These people recall past games, player performance, and outcomes. (Thread)
Threat Analyst
We struggle to remain calm when we perceive something we care about is under attack. It helps to have an expert opinion on the nature of the threat and associated risk.
Intellectual Integrity
When Tom is wrong, he says so. He either announces he deleted a tweet or corrects it this way.
Adult Role Model
Every day Tom faces people who don’t read or listen, and faces ad hominem attacks. He responds by educating, warning, or blocking. Occasionally, he tells someone how he really feels, but still maintains a sense of decorum.
Just a few random examples.
Tom often laments we are a nation of toddlers.
People like Tom will not give you all the answers. They won’t cover all the topics that interest you. But they will ingest and process the fire hose of news coverage for you. And if you are lucky, you may find a kindred spirit who rides in front of you so you can sleep better at night.
Tom doesn’t ask for gratitude or gifts. But I know he would be grateful if we all did the following:
Act like an adult
Be serious
Go vote.
Wear shoes on the airplane.
Buy and read his books.
Thanks to Simone Silverstein, Shreekkanth Viswanathan, Tommy Lee, and Clarke Reed for reading drafts.
