Associated Press, Harvey Silverglate and Blogosphere Cover the Jefferson Muzzles

After Tuesday's announcement of the 2008 Jefferson Muzzles awarded by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, the media and blogosphere have lit up with coverage of the "honors" given to "the country's most egregious and ridiculous censors". An article by the Associated Press mentioned the FIRE cases at Brandeis University and Valdosta State University:

Rounding out the list were Brandeis University administrators for declaring a professor guilty of harassment and placing a monitor in his classroom after he explained to his class that Mexican migrant workers are sometimes pejoratively called "wetbacks;" Valdosta State (Ga.) University President Ronald M. Zaccari for expelling a student for protesting the construction of two campus parking garages.

Harvey Silverglate, FIRE's co-founder and Chairman of the Board, wrote a blog entry for The Phoenix on Brandeis's Muzzle award, titled "Justice Brandeis would be proud . . . or would he?" He writes:

Maybe Brandeis President Yehuda Reinharz will begin to get the hint and undertake a conversion of Brandeis' culture into something that Justice Brandeis would recognize and of which he would approve.

And finally, the Muzzle awards have also gained much attention from numerous websites across the blogosphere.