The A.C.L.U. was the exception. David Cole, the legal director, and Anthony Romero, the executive director, got on the phone for long, interesting conversations. The A.C.L.U. walked the walk for an institution that is devoted to free speech.
Some argue that censorious political activity regarding pro-Palestinian activism or discussion of critical race theory in schools shows that the most dangerous attacks on free speech come from the right. Yet these topics do not show up in your columns. Why not?
I would like to take a look at the mandates around the teaching of history. It is something that we’ve reported on rather extensively. If you were to go back and look at what we’ve done on Texas and the prohibitions against teaching — forget critical race theory, just teaching the history of Texas — we’ve done very good reporting. There’s less urgency for me to do that.
Both on the left and right, I’m interested in people who are iconoclastic thinkers. If I hear about a Black Marxist disinvited from speaking to the Democratic Socialists of America or feminist legal scholars who object to Obama administration policies on sexual assault and harassment, let me at them.
What do you enjoy, and what don’t you enjoy, about this beat?
I’m free to follow my nose. I get to call up intellectuals like Adolph Reed and have long conversations with them. I get to order more books from the Strand than I could read in three lifetimes.
After an article is published, the first hour or two is some kind of exquisite torture. You’re waiting to find out if somebody will come back and say, “You got this wrong,” or, “You misstated my position.” Those are the same worries I had when I was starting out as a journalist at 23, only now it’s worse. You’re aware these are third-rail issues. People are going to be reading very, very closely.
But if you’re not interested in controversy, if you’re not interested in cutting against the grain, why be a reporter?
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/insider/michael-powell-free-speech.html
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