December 2001:                       suggested link ACTA launches the Defense of Civilization Fund featured on the ACTA website ...the state of freedom of speech and expression in North America anno 2001...

From The American Council of Trustees and Alumni
http://www.goacta.org/

The state of freedom of speech and expression in North America anno 2001?  Read
the details in a report which questions the political views and statements of some 40
university professors:

ACTA launches the Defense of Civilization Fund
November 11, 2001

"It was not only America that was attacked on September 11, but civilization. We were attacked
not for our vices, but for our virtues—for what we stand for. In response, ACTA has established
the Defense of Civilization Fund to support the study of American history and civics and of Western
civilization. The first project of the Fund is Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing
America and What Can Be Done About It. The report calls on college and university trustees to make
sure their institutions offer strong core curricula that pass on to the next generation the legacy of
freedom and democracy." [...]

View a PDF of report: Below, a brief excerpt:

"In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Americans across the country responded with anger, patriotism, and support of military intervention. The polls have been nearly unanimous —92% in favor of military force even if casualties occur— and citizens have rallied behind the President wholeheartedly.    Not so in academe. Even as many institutions enhanced security and many students exhibited American flags, professors across the country sponsored teach-ins that typically ranged from moral equivocation to explicit condemnations of America.    While America's elected officials from both parties and media commentators from across the spectrum condemned the attacks and followed the President in calling evil by its rightful name, many faculty demurred. Some refused to make judgments. Many invoked tolerance and diversity as antidotes to evil. Some even pointed a c c u s a t o ry fingers, not at the terrorists, but at America itself."

...professors across the country sponsored teach-ins that typically ranged from moral equivocation to explicit condemnations of America.

Other related links . . .

Democracy NOW! in Exile
http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/exile.html
December 7, 2001 (requires RealAudio. To download a free player, go to http://www.real.com/)

"The U.N. yesterday convened an emotionally charged panel on bias in the media called
"News vs. Propaganda: The Gatekeepers' Dilemma." Representatives from CNN, The
New York Times, Al-Jazeera, the BBC World Service, a London Arabic-language daily
paper, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation were all present. They were joined
via satellite by Lakhdar Brahimi, Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General for
Afghanistan, and High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.

The panel began with a discussion on news media coverage of the recent U.N. Conference
Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, with Mary Robinson lightly chastising Western
outlets for their minimal coverage of the conference. Discussion then turned to the issue of civil
liberties and human rights in the United States after September 11, and how the Bush
administration's crackdown affects media coverage." [...]