Scott A. Leadingham
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scottleadingham.bsky.social
Scott A. Leadingham
@scottleadingham.bsky.social
350 followers 270 following 350 posts
Writing about First Amendment/press/speech/religion issues. Public media type, news person, proud Washingtonian, Eagle Scout, long-suffering Mariners fan. #SpokaneDoesntSuck
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scottleadingham.bsky.social
RIP Susan Stamberg, one of @npr.org's founding mothers and a true journalism legend.

Neat thing of working for @1stforall.bsky.social is artifacts from the former Newseum (also RIP) in the office. Here is Stamberg's original NPR press badge.
An original press pass for NPR "founding mother" Susan Stamberg, laminated and on display in an Washington, D.C., office for Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the First Amendment.
October 17, 2025 at 4:23 PM
scottleadingham.bsky.social
Procession for fallen firefighters ambushed in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho has arrived at the Spokane County (WA) Medical Examiner office (located near by house - heard the sirens and saw the lights coming in).
A picture of KHQ TV breaking news broadcast about fallen fighter fighters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
June 30, 2025 at 4:17 AM
scottleadingham.bsky.social
Nice that @nbcnews.com updated the story and changed language re Musk/Tesla (though we can quibble about what "controls" means. I won't cry about there being no correction/clarification at the bottom. Small victories, right?
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
April 6, 2025 at 3:25 AM
scottleadingham.bsky.social
Neat to see my employer @1stforall.bsky.social working with America's Finest News Source @theonion.com to share the important message of self-censorship and the First Amendment. (Seriously, good work here. Well done @bencollins.bsky.social + team!)
Message : mailchi.mp/email/the-on...
A screenshot image of an email newsletter from The Onion, which says "A special message in collaboration with Freedom Forum" showing the logos of both organizations in front of the U.S. Capitol building. A screenshot of an email with text, some of which is blacked out as if being censored, with the joke that the onion is censoring itself. The full text reads: The Onion Will Not Wait To Be Censored By Anyone Else In times of crisis, instability, and oppression, Americans have always relied on the free press and alcohol to guide the way. As the First Amendment continues to come under assault from all directions, that rock-solid foundation laid out in the Bill of Rights has become an ever looming question mark. We write to you today in the hope of extinguishing any doubts or lingering uncertainties about The Onion’s commitment to freedom of expression in all its forms. We will not stay silent, timidly waiting for the government or its AI-powered robotic equivalent to censor our journalism. No—we will censor ourselves. And we will do it now.
January 30, 2025 at 6:31 PM
scottleadingham.bsky.social
For today and all days. Let us help those on the move to feel they belong. This Catholic prayer is fitting. Catholic means “universal,” and there is nothing more universal than welcoming someone who seeks refuge.
January 20, 2025 at 5:51 PM
scottleadingham.bsky.social
Worthwhile read and intriguing review of the new book "The Cancel Culture Panic" by Adrian Daub from The New Republic
🔗 newrepublic.com/article/1883...
Text from a New Republic review of a new book on the cancel culture panic. The closing paragraph reads: "This is the grand political mystification effected by cancel culture panic as Daub has described it. It persuades us to feel angry at or fearful of or smugly superior to the student, inevitably blue of hair, who wants to “cancel” the dining hall at her college for misrepresenting a sandwich. In our fervor, we forget to ask not only whether that is really what happened, or whether we should really care, but also why she had to take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt just to be there in the first place."
November 25, 2024 at 10:02 PM
scottleadingham.bsky.social
Verge editor @reckless.bsky.social has some sharp thoughts about 1st Amendment/free press issues in the next 4 years. Via @oliverdarcy.bsky.social newsletter...
🔗⬇️
www.status.news/p/nilay-pate...
Nilay Patel quote: To be as clear as I can be, the second Trump administration with Elon Musk embedded within it represents the most direct and sustained threat to the First Amendment and the freedom of the press any of us will ever experience. If you’re a media executive or editorial leader and you haven’t met with your legal team to understand the current landscape of First Amendment threats, let alone the ones to come, you’re already behind. Get on it.
November 19, 2024 at 4:53 PM