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Print One of the things we in higher education do is write about ourselves and our circumstances. Whether it’s the academic novel (we all have our short list of favorites), the philosophical apology for liberal learning (the Princeton University Press has recently published a number of excellent exemplars ), the administrator’s exposition on the future of higher education (usually unreadable and full of the current buzzwords), or the ideological fantasy (disruption, deconstruction, and reconstruction), there seems to be something for everyone. One interesting subgenre, prompted in part by recent talk of “cancel culture,” is the attempt to define or redefine academic freedom, so that we have rational categories to apply to examples that seem to some to be outrageous examples of totalitarian censorship or thought control, and to others, appropriate responses to words intended to wound.
Michael Berube and Jennifer Ruth—professors of literature and film, respectively, and long-time leaders in the American Association of University Professors —offer their contribution to this last subgenre. I wish I could like It’s Not Free Speech a whole lot more than I actually do. At a high enough level of generality, its commitments are my commitments: academic freedom, a strong faculty role in shared college and university governance, and the integrity of professional academic judgment. Any professor would enthusiastically endorse, for example, this statement: “[I]t is one of the primary functions of a college or university, if not the primary function, to distinguish between high-value and low-value speech” (177). But there is enough in the details of the argument to give me pause, fearing that their version of academic freedom will be invoked to enforce a consensus that is not only “scholarly,” but also ideological, ultimately making our campuses even less hospitable to faculty and students who dissent from the progressive academic mainstream. What, […]
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker