Are Academics Different?

The author spends much of the article quoting things which are relatively innocuous, then claiming they mean something far more extreme, and far more easy to attack, than the original. A rather disappointing bit of intellectual dishonesty for a 'distinguished professor'.

Academic inquiry is a public good as is the news, done by people as a job as do reporters, and academic freedom supports providing that good as does freedom of the press.

The press tend to get quite angry at attempts to control them, and those who go against the interests of their employers are lauded by their peers. I don't think arguing for academic freedom is any more elitist than arguing for freedom of the press.

If the "distinguished professor" wished only to teach his version of political activism, he should sign up to teach a class in his version of political activism. That way, his customers (aka students) would be getting what they paid for rather than an irrelevant rant from a total fraud.

If its Physics, Physics should be taught. If its Math, Math should be taught. If its Politics, Politics should be taught. The purpose, function, and reason the academics are employed is to teach students the content of a defined field of study. An academic does not have the right to refuse to perform his job and still keep his job with all its benefits.