Manufactured Controversey: The Nuts and Bolts of the "Academic Freedom" Astroturf Movement

Free Exchange on Campus has just released an incredibly useful primer on the history, tactics, funding of the "academic freedom movement" (read: conservative astroturf): Manufactured Controversey. Some of the bigger players in this "movement" are well known around these parts - David Horowitz, Young Americas Foundation, Leadership Institute, etc.

The report offers a detailed summary on who these players are, how they are funded, and what tactics they have employed in the past. It also offers basic advice on the best ways to respond should they appear on your campus.

This report is very timely. I've been hearing rumors from people I trust that the Leadership Institute is planning a new project along these lines called Campus Reform. The website is a mess at the moment - really more of a joke than anything else - but I've heard that they are planning on sinking some serious coin into building out a huge website capable of supporting and aggregating the work of hundreds of chapters. The purpose, of course, will be to target specific professors and course syllabi. Best get ready now to fight that back once it launches.