My own inclinations on the subject are twofold: first, that academic freedom ought to apply to everybody, not just university professors; and second, having academic freedom doesn't create an obligation on someone else to pay for it. So universities, say, can't complain academic freedom is being infringed when governments are willing to fund science but not arts (there are other arguments; academic freedom just isn't one of them). Having said that, the strongest part of the argument offered in this article appears near the end where author Jean-François Venne cites Louis-Philippe Lampron arguing that "Academic freedom is institutional in nature, like freedom of the press." In other words, academic freedom is "about the autonomy and independence of the institutions themselves: their freedom from interference by governments, funding bodies and pressure groups." So are universities like the CBC? That's a pretty interesting question.
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