Matt Laslo's CV: Journalist · Lecturer · Public Speaker · Media Consultant
When Laslo's not running his two interactive political journalism startups — Ask a Pol & The LCB — he's studying AI or giving a lecture somewhere
Bureau chief / WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
The LCB — Laslo Congressional Bureau (2010 — PRESENT)
A regionally-focused, national wire service
Deliver tailored regional coverage from Washington to 65+ NPR member stations, nonprofit newsrooms, regional newspapers, alt-weeklies, national magazines, etc.
Up to 20 clients annually; as many as 15 stories, 30+ exclusive interviews a day
Helped Mississippi Today follow up on their Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of welfare fraud, award-winning Fast Company debunk a Katie Porter rumor & Pulitzer-winning Willamette Week sent The LCB to knock on door of (now former…) Oregon First Lady’s sham first husband
This American Life & Latino USA, both Pulitzer winners, asked The LCB for a DC-assist
Regularly break cannabis news for LCB clients Marijuana Moment, Outlaw Report & MJ Biz Daily
Raw Story (2020 — PRESENT)
Vendor: LCB provides 50+ exclusive, raw breaking interviews from Capitol weekly
Contributor: Regularly break news picked up from Boston Globe to NBC
2024 Folio Award: “Best public policy news” feature (Fair Media Council)
2023 EPPY Award: “Best news/political blog” — 2 of 4 winning stories name The LCB
Trained 50+ interns
LCB alumni now at: Alaska Public Media, CNN, Fox News, CBS, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (2!), Columbus Business First, Columbus Dispatch, Face the Nation, Hearst Television, NPR, Marketplace, NBC, New York Post, US State Department, Reuters, Sunlight Foundation,US World & News Report, Virginia Public Radio, Washington Post, WBEZ (Chicago), Weekly Standard, WSKG (Binghamton), WGBH (Boston), WUSA-TV (DC), Headliners Foundation scholar, etc.
Visas, sponsorships:
Press accreditation: Two war correspondents w/ Ukraine Defense Ministry (2023 — )
Work visas: Pakistani reporter (2024, fmr. Daily Caller, now Epoch Times) & Canadian editor (2021, fmrly. Buzzfeed, now Axios)
Permanent Residency: Sponsored Thai intern (2022)
Asylum request: Fmr. Russian student, intern, news assistant (2020)
Prison to pulpit: Michael J. Moore — sponsored 2021 re-sentencing request; reference for Master of Divinity acceptance by Seattle Pacific Seminary
LCB credentials:
Worn by fmr. reporters at AP, Business Insider, Buzzfeed, CJR, CNN, Daily Beast, Daily Caller, Guardian, Kyiv Independent, LA Times, NY Post, New Republic, NPR, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, VICE News & VICE News Tonight w/ HBO, etc.
Founder / MANAGING EDITOR, HOST
Ask a Pol (2023 — PRESENT)
Interactive political journalism start-up
Transparency-focused: Take subscribers’ questions directly to their lawmakers at US Capitol
Target audience: The unnewsed (aka, roughly 90 million who didn’t vote in Election 2024)
Substack Bestseller: 36,000+ subscribers, including hundreds of paid subs
Launch: June 27, 2023 — Nov. 25, 2025: 882 days, 887 posts
Quoted: New York Post, The Hill, Deseret News, Daily Mail, Marijuana Moment, MJBizDaily, Outlaw Report, 420 Magazine, Marijuana Herald, Raw Story, etc.
Topics covered: Crypto, Drugs, AI, UAP & Politics
2024 — Asked all 100 US Senators about cannabis reform, ie SAFER Banking Act
2023 — Asked all 100 US Senators about whistleblower David Grusch’s UAP/ UFO claims
2022 — Asked all 50 Senate Republicans about House J6 hearings
“Exclusive: All 50 Senate Republicans weigh in on Jan. 6 hearings – only 8 are watching,” Matt Laslo, Raw Story (July 2022)
Contributor / WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
Mass shootings & gun violence coverage (2006 — PRESENT):
40+ mass shootings (partial list):
Sandy Hook Elementary School (Newtown, Ct), Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, Fla), Rep. Gabby Giffords, Congressional baseball, Pulse Night Club (Orlando), Harvest Music Festival (Vegas), Virginia Tech, Robb Elementary School (Uvalde, Texas), Tops Friendly Markets (Buffalo), Tree of Life Synagogue (Pittsburgh), Navy Yard, Fort Hood, Capital Gazette Newsroom, etc.
15 + Capitol lockdowns:
Breaking News Award: live reporting during 2013 Capitol shooting; mentally ill mother killed w/ infant in back seat (2014; Chesapeake AP Broadcasters Association)
Reason I don’t call myself “award-winning;” a mom died for my 1st “trophy”
Other coverage:
4,000 word profile of Sen. Chris Murphy: “How the senator from Sandy Hook beat the NRA by caving to the GOP,” Matt Laslo, Raw Story (June 27, 2022)
Gun lobby (Rolling Stone, Daily Beast, WAMU), SCOTUS (WVTF, KNAU), Violence Against Women Act & Native women (National Native News, VICE, NHPR), criminal justice (Playboy, Colorado Public Radio, DigBoston, Guardian, WikiLeaf), gun trafficking (Virginia Public Radio, WHYY), hunting (WKSU, KUHF, Wyo Public Media), assault weapons ban (Capital Public Radio), CDC gun violence research (WIRED), Chicago shootings (VICE), etc.
WIRED magazine (2019 — PRESENT)
Stories consistently top homepage, featured on Business page & highlighted in newsletter
Regularly spur conversations at Capitol on AI, deepfakes, privacy, guns, elections, etc.
Stories picked up: Politico Playbook, MSNBC, RealClearPolitics, Yahoo, Bulwark, Morning Consult, etc.
Guest analyst: C-SPAN, Scripps News, Ground Game podcast, KCUR’s Up To Date, KERA’s Think, KPFA’s Letters & Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics podcast, Sean Spicer Show, Laura Coates Show, 24sight News, Briefing w/ Steve Scully, etc.
VICE News (2018 – 2021)
Regularly led site by breaking domestic & foreign policy news; helped build 2020 political team; filed as many as five stories a week
On-air correspondent for Emmy-winning show VICE News Tonight w/ HBO
Playboy (2019 – 2020)
Flown to Denver to profile Sen. Cory Gardner for Playboy’s final print magazine (March 2020)
Rolling Stone (2017 – 2019)
Features regularly led homepage; as many as four exclusive enterprise stories a week
Q&A’s w/ Sens. Elizabeth Warren (pot), Chris Murphy (guns) & Mark Warner (cyber)
Beats: Drugs, mass shootings, female incarceration, opioids, Russiagate, etc.
The Daily Beast (2015 – 2021)
Covered protests, Jan. 6, shutdowns, profiled Matt Gaetz, campaign trail ‘16, ‘18, ‘20, etc.
Exclusive features: alt-right, gun-control, criminal justice, drugs, tech, Roe v. Wade, etc.
WAMU 88.5 News (2010 – 2015)
Helped direct election and convention coverage; won AP Broadcasters Association awards
Other bylines: The Atlantic, Billboard, Campaigns & Elections Magazine, Chattanooga Times-Free Press, The Des, Newsweek, Omaha World-Herald, The Trace, Euronews, USA Today, Washingtonian, NPR, etc.
SOCIAL MEDIA
X (Twitter) 50k+ followers across various X accounts
Jan. 6 Capitol breach video viewed 7.6+ million timesF
Finalist 2010 Shorty Awards
Granted countless outlets permission to use my photos and videos from within US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including LA Times feature
(Pre-Jan. 6) Photos used by ABC, Boston Globe, CNN, NBC, Newsday, PBS, VICE, WSJ, etc.
ICYMI — Laslo’s AI & the media lecture at NPR HQ
Adjunct Professor / LECTURER (2016 — PRESENT)
American University (School of Communication)
Two-week summer journalism intensive; lectured on AI, new media, algorithms, deepfakes (2025)
The Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government and Public Policy)
Delivered history of new media & politics lecture for visiting MA students (‘19, ‘23, ‘24)
Courses: Politics & the Media (2016, 2018, 2021); Gov’t & New Media (2017); Independent Studies with two ESL students (2017); Congressional Comms (2018); developed Politics & the Media into online CDM (2020/2021)
Guests: fmr. Rep. David Jolly, The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs, Buzzfeed’s John Stanton, NPR’s Sue Davis; fmr. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asked to audit
Boston University (MA & BA; Washington, DC Multimedia and Journalism Program)
Lectured visiting students on evolution of contemporary press corps (2022 & 2023)
Course: Rhetoric vs. Reality (2016) — explores how rhetoric adapts to new mediums
University of Maryland (BA in Journalism)
Journalism 201 (2017 & 2019)
Guests: AP, CNN alumn / Pence biographer (Harper Collins) Tom LoBianco, now- NOTUS/then-CNN Haley Byrd, VICE News/ then-National Journal Daniel Newhauser
George Washington University (MA in PR & Communications)
Media Relations in Digital World (2018, 2019, 2020); Advanced Comms Writing (2019)
Guests: CBS Mornings’ executive producer Shawna Thomas, then-Washington Post / now-Semafor’s Dave Weigel, Sarah Peck (comms Sen. Tim Kaine) & Rachel Holland (comms Rep. Will Hurd)
OP-ED WRITER (2016 — PRESENT)
Columbia Journalism Review, SALT Weekly, NBC Think, Guardian, Thompson Reuters, The News Station, Wisconsin State Journal & Lights, Cameras, Memes!
Pen original enterprise op-eds on AI, new media, partisanship, drug policy, elections, etc.
Covered presidential debates live for The Guardian during 2016 election
Craft Beer Columnist
On Tap Magazine
Explored intersection of booze & politics in the nation’s capital
Academic publications:
Authored by Matt Laslo — 40+ op-eds (tiny sample…):
“It’s embarrassing being a part of the press corps these days,” Lights, Cameras, Memes! (2023, Laslo’s academic Substack)
“My First Byline,” Your First Byline (2025, Ryan Teague Beckwith’s Substack)
“The Ghost of Privacy Past Haunts the Senate’s AI Future,” WIRED (2023)
“How Obama gave us Donald Trump,” Guardian (2016)
“Commentary: Is this database a bigger threat than Facebook?” Reuters (2018)
“Worst job in Washington — being AOC in our digital death threat era,” SALT Weekly (2025, Nashville print-only alt-quarterly)
“MTG, margaritas, ‘merica — inside a mythical Trump boat parade,” SALT Weekly (2025)
“Right-wing lawmakers are moonlighting as media stars,” Columbia Journalism Review (2024)
“Inside Ask a Pol — a media startup striving for a people-powered press corps,” SALT Weekly (2024)
“The Political Theater Behind the Bipartisan Data Privacy Push,” WIRED (2023)
“Joe Biden’s Big AI Plan Sounds Scary—but Lacks Bite,” WIRED (2023)
“Trump’s Fulton County indictment is the most sweeping and dangerous one yet,” Lights, Cameras, Memes! (2023)
“The US Congress Has Trust Issues. Generative AI Is Making It Worse,” WIRED (2023)
“Congress Wants to Take Back Power Over Crypto,” WIRED (2023)
“The US Senate Wants to Rein In AI. Good Luck With That,” WIRED (2023)
“The Quiet Insurrection the January 6 Committee Missed,” WIRED (2022)
“Euroviews. The New York Times presidential endorsement shows why newspapers must end the practice,” Euronews/ NBC Think (2020)
“Coronavirus is revealing why local news is so important. It’s also killing it,” NBC Think (2020)
“COVID-19 conspiracies get embraced by Trump and right-wing media because reality is painful,” NBC Think (2020)
“Fox News is key to the 2020 election, whether liberals like it or not. Denying it a debate only hurts Democrats,” NBC Think (2019)
“The fake Trump shooting video is the result of decades of media demonization by conservatives,” NBC Think (2019)
“Alex Jones won’t rethink his antics because of a Twitter timeout. Jack Dorsey can’t be that naive,” NBC Think (2018)
“Sinclair’s ‘fake news’ script put its viewers’ trust in their local news at risk,” NBC Think (2018)
“Commentary: The right way to run Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS hearing,” Reuters (2018)
“Trump’s disinterest in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder is a betrayal of the promises of the First Amendment,” NBC Think (2018)
“Commentary: Here’s one way to help Facebook protect data,” Reuters (2018)
“The latest front in fake news is streaming on Netflix,” NBC Think (2018)
“The problem with ‘fake news’ comes from trying to prove you’re not it,”NBC Think (2017)
“A conspiracy-laden blog has no place in the White House press corps,” Guardian (2017)
“To protect America, skilled policy experts must fill the Trump administration,” Guardian (Nov. 18, 2016)
“Obama blamed media for the election outcome. That’s counterproductive,” Guardian (2016)
“Has Bernie Sanders changed American politics? Reviewing a ‘political revolution’ — Jeffrey W Rubin, Raúl M Grijalva, Keli Goff, Kim Phillips-Fein, Matt Laslo , Barrett Holmes Pitner , Barbara Lee and Maria Cardona,” Guardian (2016)
“Why the Trump-Clinton matchup is a boon to libertarians,” Guardian (2016)
“I cheered as protesters clashed with Trump supporters. Then I felt shame,” Guardian (2016)
“Obama’s post-presidency focus on redistricting is an establishment move,” Guardian (2016)
“Analyzing the midterms,” Center on Politics & Foreign Relations (2010, George Mason)
“Pot healed my post-surgery pain. Why is it still banned from pain relief research?” Guardian (2016)
“Federal Recognition for VA’s Indian Tribes,” Matt Laslo, WVTF — Virginia’s Public Radio (2013, republished by Tulalip syəcəb — “gossip” in Lushootseed — News)
Generative AI — 10+ citations:
“Governance in the Absence of Government,” Tracy Hresko Pearl, Social Science Research Network (2025, University of Oklahoma College of Law)
“Fairness & Privacy in an Age of Generative AI,” Alice Xiang, Columbia Science & Technology Law Review (2024, Columbia University Libraries & Columbia Law School)
“Yelling “Fire” in the Financial Theater: Bank Runs in the Social Media Age and the Threat to Financial Stability,” Eric J. Spitler, North Carolina Banking Institute (2024, UNC School of Law)
“Misinformed Depositors,” Raj Ashar, University of Miami Business Law Review (2024, University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository)
“Democracy and Trust: The Troubling Role of Education in Misinformation Belief,” Edward Lee & Andrew Moshirnia, Michigan State Law Review, (2023, Elsevier Inc.)
Letter to OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Sen. Elizabeth Warren & Rep. Lori Trahan (Aug. 8, 2024)
“Large Language Model Prediction Capabilities: Evidence from a Real-World Forecasting Tournament,” Philipp Schoenegger & Peter S. Park, arXiv.org (2023, London School of Economics & MIT)
“What they’re saying about the White House’s executive order on AI,” Drew Pearson, AI in Healthcare (2023, Innovate Healthcare)
“What Trump Knew and ‘Risky Business’ at 40 — Plus: History Has Its Eyes on Jack Smith,” Jim Swift, The Bulwark (2023)
“Face the Facts, or Is the Face a Fact?: Biometric Privacy in Publicly Available Data,” Daniel Levin, Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal (2022, Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History)
“Deplatforming Misogyny: Report on Platform Liability for Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence,” Cynthia Khoo, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund; aka LEAF (2021, LEAF’s Technology-Facilitated Violence — TFV — Project)
Media — 20+ citations:
“Dis-Info Ops and Strategies of Resistance from Another Age of Inflationary Media,” R. David Castillo, Anti-Disinformation Pedagogy: Tackling the Power of Manipulative Media (Spring 2024; Hispanic Issues On Line Vol. 32, ed. David Castillo & Bradley Nelson)
“Right Wing Angered by Calderón’s Debate Questions,” Richard Prince, Journal-isms (2023, National Association of Black Journalists)
“Combating Fake News with ‘Reasonable Standards,’” Tawanna D. Lee, UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal (2021, Law Journals at UC Law SF Scholarship Repository)
“Compelling Code: A First Amendment Argument Against Requiring Political Neutrality in Online Content Moderation,” Lily A. Coad, Cornell Law Review (2021, Cornell Law School)
“Policing the Digital Public Square: The Duty of NonManipulation as an Alternative to Free Speech Restrictions on Social Media,” Ben Kabe, Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal (2021, University of Connecticut School of Law; printed Western Newspaper Publishing Co)
“Is Truth Hanging on by a Thread?” Thomas Ryan, University of Illinois Chicago Law Review (2021, University of Illinois Chicago)
“The Virus vs. Journalism,” David Leonhardt, New York Times (2020, Opinion)
“Targeted Disinformation Warfare: How and Why Foreign Efforts are Effective, and Recommendations for Impactful Government Action,” Ethan Guge, Iowa State University (2020)
“Web of Lies: Hate Speech, Pseudonyms, the Internet, Impersonator Trolls, and Fake Jews in the Era of Fake News,” Yitzchak Besser, Ohio State Technology Law Journal or OSTLJ (2021, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law)
“Corporations Under the Bill of Attainder Clause,” Harrison A. Newman, Duke Law Journal (2020, Duke University School of Law)
“Lapdogs, Attack Dogs, or Watchdogs? News Media’s Role in State Government and Politics,” Jessica Opoien, JScholarship (2020, Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs)
“...Matt Laslo, whose feedback was integral in refining and improving my thesis from draft to finished product.”
“COVID-19 Has Ravaged American Newsrooms – Here’s Why that Matters,” Damian Radcliffe, The Conversation US (2020, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University)
Harvard’s Nieman Lab & Yahoo! (2020, republished under Creative Commons license)
“The Local News Paradox,” Rosa Elías Najri, Liberty University Journalism student (2020, Medium)
Legislative Hardball: The House Freedom Caucus and the Power of Threat-Making in Congress, Matthew Green (2019, Cambridge University Press)
“Qatar’s Use of Hacking and Mass Media To Assassinate Characters of Rivals and to Shut Down Criticism: Implications for Reputational Management,” Irina Tsukerman, George Mason University Character Assassination and Reputational Politics Conference (2019)
“Post-truth Politics: Disinformation Through Alternative Information Streams,” Jillian Donovan, JScholarship (2019, Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs)
“Cruel Limbo: DACA’s Shortsightedness Leads to Dim Long View,” John Schmid, Towson University Journal of International Affairs (2017, Towson University)
“Georgia GOP lawmakers line up behind Donald Trump after first meeting,” Tamar Hallerman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 7, 2016)
“Daily Media Links 4/6: Sanders and Cruz won Wisconsin. That’s unlikely to change the race overall, Wisconsin’s Local Media Aren’t As Trump-Obsessed As National Outlets,” Brian Walsh, Institute for Free Speech (2016)
“The Politics of Worldbuilding Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia,” Laura French Moran, University of Western Australia (2016, MA in Philosophy creative writing thesis)
“Today’s Washington Press Corps, More Digitized, Specialized,” Amy Mitchell, Jesse Holcomb & Rachel Weisel, pewresearch.org (2015, Pew Research Center)
*as Regional Reporter Association board member, coordinated Pew interviews with colleagues
Section 230 (data privacy) — 20+ law review citations:
“Social Media’s Impact on the Adolescent Mental Health Crisis and the Current Legal Landscape to Protect Adolescents Online,” Katharine Sexton, Journal of Law, Technology & Policy (2025, University of Illinois College of Law)
“Censorship as a Cure for the Youth Mental Health Crisis in the United States: Utah’s Social Media Ban for Minors,” William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice (2025, William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository)
“The Kids Are Not Alright: A Look into the Absence of Laws Protecting Children in Social Media,” Libby Morehouse, Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review (2024, Loyola Marymount University & Loyola Law School)
“Data Surveillance and Abortion After Dobbs,” Leila Nasrolahi, Berkeley Technology Law Journal (2023, UC Berkeley School of Law)
“Section 230: A Retrospective,” Christopher Cox, The Center for Growth and Opportunity (2022, Utah State University)
“Moderated Content,” Evelyn Douek, Stanford Law School podcast (2022, Simplecast)
“In Antitrust We Trust?: Big Tech Is Not the Problem—It’s Weak Data Privacy Protections,” Olivia T. Creser, Federal Communications Law Journal (2021, Federal Communications Bar Association & George Washington University Law School)
“Mad about the First Amendment, Our Beacon for Liberty, Equality and Democracy,” Nicholas Allard, BrooklynWorks (2021, Brooklyn Law School)
“Overview of Section 230: What It Is, Why It Was Created, and What It Has Achieved,” Ashley Johnson & Daniel Castro, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (2021, ITIF)
“How Content Moderation May Expose Social Media Companies to Greater Defamation Liability,” Tanner Bone, Washington University Law Review (2021, Washington University School of Law)
“Deplatformed: Social Network Censorship, The First Amendment, and the Argument to Amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act,” John A. LoNigro, Touro Law Review (2021, Touro Law Center)
“Freedom of Thought in the United States: The First Amendment, Marketplaces of Ideas, and the Internet, John G. Francis & Leslie Francis, Utah Law Digital Commons (2021, SJ Quinney College of Law, University of Utah)
“Changing Counterspeech”, G.S. Hans, Cleveland State Law Review (2021, CSU College of Law Library)
“The internet of children: Protecting children’s privacy in a hyper-connected world,” Eldar Haber, University of Illinois Law Review (2020, University of Illinois College of Law)
“Soft Law in U.S. ICT Sectors: Four Case Studies,” Adam Thierer, Jurimetrics (2020, ASU’s Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law)
“Enjoining Non-Liable Platforms,” Maayan Perel, Harvard Journal of Law & Technology (2020, Harvard Law School)
“The Internet as a Speech Machine and Other Myths Confounding Section 230 Reform,” Danielle Keats Citron & Mary Anne Franks, University of Chicago Legal Forum (2020, Chicago Unbound)
“Customer Transparency Can Dampen the Growing Human Trafficking Problem,” Colin Martell, Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law (2020, Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine)
“Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act: Why California Courts Interpreted It Correctly and What That Says About How We Should Change It,” E. Alex Murcia, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review (2020, Loyola Marymount University & Loyola Law School)
“Constraining the Cybermob: Using a Doxing Notice and Takedown Regime to Optimize the Social Security Utility of Online Shaming,” Erik Money, Journal of Law and Technology at Texas (2020, University of Texas School of Law)
“Section 230: The Valyrian Steel for Website Operators, and Why a Tax Credit is the Best Solution to a Safer Internet,” Noah Hale, Pace Law Review (2020, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University)
“The Mice that Roar: What Small Countries Can Teach Great Powers About National Cyber-Defense,” Melissa Kate Griffith (2020, University of California, Berkeley)
“United States: Freedom on the Net 2019 Country Report (& great booklet summary), Adrian Shahbaz and Allie Funk, Freedom on the Net* (2019, Freedom House)
*Fine Print: “This report was made possible by the generous support of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), the New York Community Trust, Google, Internet Society, and Verizon Media.”
Section 230 features assigned in 5+ syllabi:
NYU, UNC (Chapel Hill), DePaul, GW & Johns Hopkins University
Showcased in UT Austin School of Law’s academic guide
Good (& bad) government books — 10+ citations:
Fools on the Hill: The Hooligans, Saboteurs, Conspiracy Theorists, and Dunces Who Burned Down the House, Dana Milbank (2024, Little, Brown and Company)
Keeping the Republic, Brief Tenth Edition, Christine Barbour & Gerald C. Wright (2023, SAGE Publications)
“An Analysis of the Biden Impeachment Inquiry,” Joshua Matz, Norm Eisen, Claudine Schneider & Fern Smith, Just Security (2023, Reiss Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law)
Social Media, Freedom of Speech, and the Future of our Democracy, Lee C. Bollinger & Geoffrey R. Stone (2022, Oxford Academic)
Political Problems and Personalities in Contemporary Maryland, Theodore F. Sheckels & Carl T. Hyden (2022, Bloomsbury Publishing)
The Long Red Thread: How Democratic Dominance Gave Way to Republican Advantage in US House Elections, Kyle Kondik (2021, Ohio University Press)
The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy, and Our Health--and How We Must Adapt, Sinan Aral (2020, Crown)
Corporate Citizen: New Perspectives on the Globalized Rule of Law, Oonagh E. Fitzgerald, ed. (2020, McGill-Queen’s University Press)
Internet Law (Reference Shelf), H.W. Wilson Co. (2020, Grey House Publishing)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: A Biography, Laurie Collier Hallstrom (2020, Bloomsbury Publishing)
2018 International Existing Building Code Handbook, Chris Kimball, (2019, McGraw Hill LLC)
“How Congress Could Fix Redistricting -- Without The Supreme Court,” Matt Laslo, Ozy (RIP; Nov. 13, 2017); copy & pasted verbatim on Rep. Ro Khanna’s official Congressional site
Gun-control citations:
“When Thoughts and Prayers are Not Enough: Why Age-Based Restrictions on Purchasing Firearms Pass Constitutional Muster,” Madeline P. Fuller, American University Law Review (2021, American University Washington College of Law)
“Any Safe Harbor in a Storm: Sesta-Fosta and the Future of § 230 of the Communications Decency Act,” Charles Matula, Duke Law and Technology Review (2020, Duke University School of Law)
“Gun Safety Under Threat: How Extremist Judges are undermining Gun Laws,” Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (2020, GiffordsLawCenter.org)
“Another Shot at Rectifying the District of Columbia v. Heller Ambiguities: The Constitutional Right to Arms, the Nonconstitutional Right to Arms, and the Commerce Clause,” Noah Gaarder-Feingold, San Diego Law Review (2019, University of San Diego School of Law)
“Guns and Violence Against Women: America’s Uniquely Lethal Intimate Partner Violence Problem,” Everytown Research & Policy (2019, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund)
“Rolling Stone Gathers No Credibility,” National Shooting Sports Foundation (2017, NSSF — “The Firearm Industry Trade Association”)
“The Next Stage of Police Accountability: Launching a Police Body-Worn Camera Program in Washington D.C.,” Marielle A. Moore, Seattle Journal for Social Justice (2016, Seattle U. School of Law)
Race, criminal justice, “war on drugs,” fentanyl — 10+ citations:
A Potent Moment: Building Social Equity into Cannabis Legalization, Jeffrey Moyer (2023; Lexington Books, Bloomsbury Publishing)
“The Legalization of Cannabis and the Question of Reparations,” Kojo Koram, Journal of International Economic Law (2022, Oxford University Press)
“Criminalized Students, Reparations, and the Limits of Prospective Reform,” Amber Baylor, Juvenile Law & Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons (2022, Columbia Law School)
“The Regulatabilization of Cannabis,” Donald J. Kochan, Fordham Urban Law Journal Fordham Urban Law Journal (2022, Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History)
“Race, Class, and Socioeconomic and Sentencing Laws in Opioid Cases,” Phaedra Denise Jackson, Walden University ScholarWorks (2021, Walden University)
“Health Equity, Federalism, and Cannabis Policy,” Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University Law Review, (2021, Boston University School of Law)
“Retroactive Legality: Marijuana Convictions and Restorative Justice in an Era of Criminal Justice Reform,” Deborah M. Ahrens, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (2020, Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law)
“Criminal Justice Reform in the Fentanyl Era: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back,” Michael Collins & Sheila P. Vakharia, Prison Policy Initiative (2020, Drug Policy Alliance)
“Cory Booker on Drug Decriminalization,” Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition (2019, IHRC)
“Matt Laslo: Marijuana-loving former politicians are lining up to profit off the end of their war on drugs,” Marshall Project links to Laslo op-ed (2019)
“From John Boehner to Joe Crowley, the same men who could’ve helped end the prohibition on cannabis now aim to make money off it”
“New Mexico Tribal Cannabis: Policy, Politics, & Guidance for Government-to-Government Cooperation in State-Tribal Cannabis Compacting,” Matthew Ramírez, Natural Resources Journal (2018, University of New Mexico)
“Color-Blind Stancetaking in Racialized Discourse,” Abigail Christine Tobias-Lauerman, TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange (2017, University of Tennessee)
Boy @ The Window: A Memoir, Donald Earl Collins (2014, self-published)
Jan. 6, 2021 attack on US Capitol — 15+ interviews:
“‘How are we going to defend ourselves?’ Inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection,” Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times (2024)
“On Edge: What the US election could mean for journalists and global press freedom,” Katherine Jacobsen, Committee to Protect Journalists (2024, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Press Freedom Center)
Losing is Democratic: How to Talk to Kids About January 6th, Kitty Felde, Chesapeake Press (2024)
“...losing is a part of the DNA of any democracy — or it should be. “Losing is Democratic” by Kitty Felde is a fun, adventure-filled lesson for the next generation about the pitfalls of pride and heroism of humility,” reads Matt Laslo’s review, published alongside Sen. Adam Schiff & Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s endorsements
“Indictment of a President,” The Debrief, Scripps News (Aug. 4, 2023)
“The Quiet Insurrection the January 6 Committee Missed,” Matt Laslo, WIRED (Oct. 2022)
“Social Media and the Weaponization of Free Speech,” Dr. Mary Anne Franks, House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (2022, Statement for the Record)
“Rep. Bennie Thompson’s Mississippi Colleagues Have No Comment on his Jan. 6 Hearings,” Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today & Clarke County Tribune (2022)
“So, So Angry’: Reporters Who Survived the Capitol Riot Are Still Struggling,” Cameron Joseph, VICE News (2021, VICE Media)
“It Was Terrifying.” Reporter Describes The Attack On The Capitol,” Bob Beck, Wyoming Public Radio (2021, Wyoming Public Media)
“25 Terrifying Tweets That Members Of Congress And Journalists Actually Had To Send During Trump’s Capitol Riot,” Stephen LaConte, Buzzfeed (Jan. 7, 2021)
“Congress certifies Biden as next US president – as it happened,” Tom McCarthy, Vivian Ho & Joan E Greve, The Guardian (Jan. 6, 2021)
“Chaos at Capitol as Trump Supporters Battle Police, Buildings Evacuate Chamber Recess,” Rosa Cartagena, Washingtonian (Jan. 6, 2021)
“Trump Supporters Storm Capitol in Washington After President Incites Riot, One Person Dies,” Jay Barmann, SFist (Jan. 6, 2021)
“Trump supporters storm Capitol, breach building to protest election results,” Geoff Herbert, The Post Standard (Jan. 6, 2021, via Syracuse.com)
“‘They breached the Capitol’: Journalists in D.C. show the world what’s happening,” Kristen Hare, Poynter Institute (Jan. 6, 2021)
“Lawmakers, Hill staffers, and reporters recount the harrowing experience as a violent pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol to protest the electoral-vote count,” Business Insider (Jan. 6, 2021)
Dictionary examples:
“clampdown,” Merriam-Webster (2025)
“partisan,” Merriam-Webster (2024)
“Magazine Article With Two Authors,” Chicago (17th ed.) Style Guide (2023, Ralph M. Besse Library, Ursuline College)
Wikipedia — 20+ citations:
“Inside the Senate’s Private AI Meeting With Tech’s Billionaire Elites,” Laslo, WIRED (Sept. 2023)
“U.S. House Democrats say squabbles are healthy sign as they move past 100 days,” WHYY, Philadelphia NPR (April 2019)
“The CDC could totally study gun violence – It just needs money,” WIRED (Aug. 2019)
“Commentary: A bigger data threat than Facebook?” Reuters (April 2018)
Cannabis legislation proposals in the United States
“Medical Marijuana: How Six Senators Are Leading the Fight,” Rolling Stone (June 2017)
“Elizabeth Warren: Jeff Sessions Acted as “Catalyst” for Weed Legalization,” Rolling Stone (Aug. 2018)
“Pot Showdown: How Congress Is Uniting to Stop Jeff Sessions’ War on Drugs,” Rolling Stone (Jan. 2018)
Patricia Taft — Educator; granddaughter, US Senator Robert A. Taft; great-granddaughter President William Howard Taft
“Patricia Taft is the Black great-granddaughter of a U.S. president — and she’s taking on Washington,” Raw Story (April 2023)
Comstock Act of 1873 — anti-vice law aimed at new medium of their day: Mail
“The Fight Over Section 230—and the Internet as We Know It,” WIRED (Aug. 2019)
Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections
“Russia Is Going To Up Its Game For The 2020 Elections,” WIRED (July 2019)
David Grusch UFO whistleblower claims
“UFO Whistleblower, Meet a Conspiracy-Loving Congress,” WIRED (June 2023)
Liz Cheney — fmr. Wyoming Congresswoman; Vice Chair Select Jan. 6, 2021 Committee
“Cheney Is A Strong Supporter Of Opioid Legislation While Others Aren’t So Sure,” Wyoming Public Media (June 2018)
Cory Gardner — then-Colorado’s junior US Senator
“How a Republican Senator Became the Biggest Cannabis Power Broker in Congress,” Playboy (Spring 2020 issue — RIP, last print edition ever)
Jim Himes — Ranking Member, US House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI)
Shelley Moore Capito — West Virginia’s senior US Senator
“Steve King: I’m the Pied Piper of the Anti-Abortion Movement,” The Daily Beast (May 2019)
Mike Enzi — then-Wyoming’s senior US Senator, RIP
“Sen. Enzi Gets A Gavel - The First Accountant Ever To Chair The Budget Committee,” Wyoming Public Radio (Jan. 2015)
Doug LaMalfa — California Congressman
“In Wake Of Gay Marriage Ruling, Sacramento-Area Representatives Ponder Next Steps,” Capital Public Radio, Sacramento NPR (Dec. 2017)
Jim Moran — then-Virginia Congressman
“Jim Moran Recounts Raucous Bipartisan Brawl,” Warren Rojas, Roll Call (Oct. 2014)
Jennifer Wexton — then-Virginia Congresswoman
“New Virginia Democrats Deciding on House Speaker,” WVTF, Virginia Public Radio (Nov. 2018)
List of presidential trips made by Donald Trump (2017)
“Motorcade entered Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia - though the sign falsely reads Washington, DC - at 9:38am. No further POTUS sightings,” White House Pool report #1 (July 30, 2017)
2024 United States Senate elections in California
“Exclusive: Sen. Dianne Feinstein won’t announce her plans for 2024 — until 2024,” Raw Story (Jan. 2023)
Boycott of Maryland’s 1st congressional district
“Anti-Marijuana Congressman Andy Harris: ‘D.C. Made A Bad Decision,’” WAMU (Feb. 2015)
Education
The Johns Hopkins University; Ma, Government & Public Policy (2011)
Cum laude
Thesis: “The Trading Game: Why ‘Compromise’ shouldn’t be a Dirty Word in Washington”
Alumni Advisory Board, JHU Center for Advanced Governmental Studies (2014 — PRESENT)
Covenant College; BA, Philosophy (2006)
Senior Integration Paper on director Pedro Almodovar’s representation of male heterosexuals
PREVIOUS
The News station — TNS (Aug. 2020 – Dec. 2021)
Managing editor
Flipped unread local cannabis PR blog into culture-focused, national alt-weekly
Quoted by 100+ outlets; VICE, Politico, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Newsmax, USA Today, etc.
Redesigned site (SEO, Google News, etc.); wrote original styleguide; Twitter growth 5,300%+
Managed, coordinated & brainstormed with 12+ editors spread across eight diverse verticals
In 14 months, built freelancer network of 260+ contributors, including 30 published book authors
Contributors included Ben Jacobs, Emma Loop, Chris Moody, Megan Carpentier, etc.
900+ news pieces, exclusive features, original fiction, new songs, poetry (including musicians), diverse op-eds, videos, visual essays & comics; posted 500+ works myself; weekly newsletter
Devised & commissioned: 50 at 50 – essays from 50 current or former prisoners of war on drugs
20+ collaborations, including The Pitch, Prisoner Journalism Project, National Native News, Inewsource, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, Dig Boston, etc.
CHIEF CORRESPONDENT
Wrote 130+ stories; breaking news, exclusive & in-depth features; most read contributor on site
Profiled (or a narrative Q&A): hemp farmer & fmr. Rep. Denver Riggleman; System of a Down’s Shavo turned weed CEO; Calif. AG Rob Bonta; Rep. Madeleine Dean &her recovering son, etc.
OTHER
Capitol News Connection with PRI; DC correspondent for NPR member stations (2006-10)
Coordinated with news directors & local reporters nationwide; blog most read on site
Metro, Philadelphia Edition; music reporter (2005)
Interviewed: Sufjan Stevens, System of a Down, Citizen Cope, Chocolate Genius, Chris Botti, etc.
Bills and Brews; host & founder (2014 – )
Raised 36k on Kickstarter; partnered w/Comedy Central Drunk History producer Kyle Crosby;
VICE was interested; still unclaimed…
RANDOM
*Grace Community Bible Church (Roselle, Ill.); youth pastor intern (2004)
Mentored teens; taught theology to adults; delivered sermons to students & full congregation
**Earth Friendly Landscaping (Mainline, Philadelphia); co-founder, foreman, head of marketing, etc. (2005)
Ran boutique landscape firm; trained and led crews comprised of my college buds
***Part-time Nanny (Mainline)
Read, played, made dinner, etc. for a 3 & 5yr old (to pay for my bad journalism habit)
****Office of US Senator Lamar Alexander (Chattanooga, Tenn.); intern (Spring 2006)
Was established reporter; took advantage of senior year to see inside senator’s office
Awards & extras
Regional Reporters Association; Board member (2009 — )
Johns Hopkins University Alumni Advisory Board (June 2014 — )
Breaking News Award; Chesapeake AP Broadcasters Association (2014)
Outstanding News Series Award; “Federal Spending and the DC Area” (2013; Chesapeake AP Broadcasters Association)
Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship (2009-10)
Journalism Education Association National Student Media Contests; Judge, broadcast news category (2020)
Society of Professional Journalists; Judge, dateline awards (2020)
Radio/Television Correspondents Association; Judge Joan S. Barone Award (2010 & 2014)
Journalism Mentorship; John McCandlish Phillips, fmr. New York Times staff writer (1955-1973)
Notable Panels & Lectures
Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) conference; “Make Politics Boring (Again): Outfoxing AI, deepfakes & the nationalization of local politics” (NPR HQ; June 2024)
Aspen Ideas Festival; moderated “CBD: Hype or Hope?” only sold-out panel (spring 2019); TRAVEL PAID
TheCapitol.net; federal worker certificate program; 1-3 lectures annually (2017 – ); PAID
Guest lectures: Cornell, Northwestern, Georgetown, NYU, George Mason, Loyola, American University; PAID
Public Radio News Directors Inc (PRNDI); 2012 training webinar & 2014 political reporting panel with NPR hosts Ailsa Chang & Todd Zwillich
Keynotes, Panels & Guest Lectures (2009 — PRESENT)
American University; lecture on AI, new tech & social media & tour of US Capitol (July 2025); PAID
Covenant College; lectured on convergence of AI, media and hyper-partisanship (May 2025)
National Cannabis Policy Summit; moderated panel ‘Polling: Bipartisan Solutions to Federal Cannabis Policy Challenges’ (April 2025)
Sunwater Foundation; senior Air Force officials; CANCELED: DOGE budget cuts (Mar. 2025) PAID
Sunwater Foundation; lectured Air Force officers on roots of today’s partisan press corps (Sept. 2024); PAID
Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) conference; “Make Politics Boring (Again): Outfoxing AI, deepfakes & the nationalization of local politics” (NPR HQ; June 2024)
Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government &Public Policy); lecture on how today’s hyper-partisan algorithms are a throwback to the nation’s partisan press corps in 1800 (Mar. 2024); PAID
Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government & Public Policy); recorded abbreviated media lecture for core course (Oct. 2023); PAID
Boston University (Distance Learning Program in Washington); lecture on hyper-partisan printing presses of founding era (Sept. 2023); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; lectured FAA officials on cameras impact on legislating, Washington press (Aug. 2023); PAID
Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government & Public Policy); lecture on historical underpinnings of today’s partisanship as told through lens of the press (Mar. 2023); PAID
Boston University (Distance Learning Program in Washington); lecture on how today’s press has roots in hyper-partisan printing presses of founding era (Mar. 2023); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; lectured Air Force “engineers, program managers, logisticians, contracting officers, analysts, and an executive officer” on how US press operate (Mar. 2023); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; lectured government workers on evolving state of Washington media (Jan. 2023); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; lectured senior Air Force officials on new media’s impact on Washington (Mar. 2023); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; lectured officers from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on today’s press (Sept. 2022); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; lectured government employees on evolving media (Aug. 2022); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; lectured senior FAA officials on hyper-partisanship (Dec. 2021); PAID
Northwestern, Medill School (MS in Journalism); panel on freelancing & evolving state of media (May 2021)
Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government & Public Policy Program); moderated both presidential debates of the 2020 Election (Sept. & Oct. 2020)
Leadership Institute, How to be a Pundit w/ Matt Lewis, Daily Beast; online workshop of 40+ (July 2020)
TheCapitol.Net; Workshop for 29 senior FAA officials; explored media’s role in politics (July 2020); PAID
American University (online, COVID); lectured Comms students on bleak media landscape (May 2020)
Loyola University Maryland (online; COVID); lectured poli-sci students on pandemic coverage (May 2020)
NYU (scheduled onsite, but COVID forced it online); lectured BA public policy students on how President Trump – like his predecessors – has exploited weaknesses in the contemporary press corps (April 2020)
University of Oklahoma; lectured BA in journalism students on how solid reporting is the only antidote to being labeled “fake news” and “the enemy” (March 2020)
TheCapitol.Net; Capitol Hill workshop for a group of 20, ranging from government employees to embassy staffers from across the globe; explored the roots of today’s hyper-partisan Congress and media landscape (September 2019); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; Capitol Hill workshop for 20+ senior acquisition managers at the FAA; explored the history of the media with an eye towards combatting charges of “fake news” (Sept. 2019); PAID
Aspen Ideas Festival, Moderator; Led “CBD: Hype or Hope?” panel; explored CBD myths & need for FDA regulations; only sold-out panel for Health portion of ideas fest (June 2019); FREE TRAVEL & LODGING
TheCapitol.Net; Capitol Hill workshop for 20+ senior acquisition managers at the FAA; explored the underpinnings of what I term today’s Reality TV Congress and Commander-in-Chief (May 2019); PAID
Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government & Public Policy); gave students a tour of the Capitol and a lecture attempting to debunk The Golden Age Fallacy too often employed in political and media debates these days (May 2019); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; Capitol Hill workshop for 20+ senior acquisition managers at the FAA; lectured on new media’s impact on government (March 2019); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; Capitol Hill workshop for 20 senior acquisition managers at the FAA; lecture on the state of the contemporary media (Sept. 2018); PAID
Boston University, Distance Learning Program in Washington; Delivered lecture entitled, Why Be Hysterical When You Can Be Happy? Trump isn’t Anything New (July 2018); PAID
Cornell University, Cornell in Washington campus; Delivered lecture entitled, The Myth of the Enemy: Roots of the Modern Press Corps (July 2018)
Institute of Political Journalism, George Mason University; Lectured students on the state of the contemporary press corps, putting today’s reporters in proper historical context (June 2018)
TheCapitol.Net; Capitol Hill workshop for 25 senior acquisition managers at the FAA; lecture entitled “The Media: Before Trump and After Trump” (May 2018); PAID
TheCapitol.Net; Workshop for 25 senior FAA acquisition managers; lecture: “The Evolving Media & How It Covers the Big Beats in Washington,” which laid out historical underpinnings for understanding contemporary press (Dec. 2017); PAID
Georgetown University (MA in Journalism); Freelancing for Journalists, panelist (Nov. 2017)
George Mason University, Institute of Political Journalism; Lectured students on how President Trump’s use of social media, bypassing the press corps and lying to reporters fits into historical context (June 2017)
Boston University (Distance Learning Program in Washington); Lectured students on President Trump’s first 100 days, with eye towards how the media’s relationship with White House has changed (April 2017); PAID
Boston University (Distance Learning Program in Washington); Lectured students on the media’s role in Donald Trump’s rise to power (Feb. 2017); PAID
Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government & Public Policy Program); co-moderated debate watch party with SAIS professor and former US Senate candidate Robert Guttman (Fall 2016)
Boston University (Distance Learning Program in Washington); Lectured journalism students on the ins and outs of covering Congress (April 2016); PAID
Paul Miller Washington Reporters Fellowship, Washington Press Foundation; Co-hosted tour of Capitol at request of National Press Club President Thomas Burr; gave 20 young journalists tips & history of congressional coverage (Nov. 2015)
American University (MA in Journalism Program); On panel with Tracy Jan of The Boston Globe, discussing tips and tricks to covering Congress (Sept. 2015)
Institute on Political Journalism & U.S. Programs/ The Fund for American Studies (GW University); Lecture debunking calls for a virtual Congress (Summer 2015)
Washington Press Foundation, Paul Miller Washington Reporters Fellowship; Guest lecture on changing relationship between contemporary press corps and today’s lawmakers (Oct. 2014)
American University (MA in Journalism Program); Guest lecture on social media’s impact on Congress for NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving’s course Public Affairs Reporting (Sept. 2014)
Public Radio News Directors Inc. annual conference; On panel entitled “Covering Congress” with Ailsa Chang of NPR & Todd Zwillich of PRI (June 2014)
Covenant College; Lecture: “Partisanship: How did we get here and is the media complicate?” (Summer 2013)
Leadership for Healthy Communities Conference; Panelist on new media techniques (Fall 2012)
WAMU 88.5 News; panel on covering political conventions with popular radio host Kojo Nnamdi (Fall 2012)
Institute on Political Journalism (Georgetown); Lecture entitled “Contemporary Media Competition: You v. Your Subject” (Summer 2012)
Eastern University; Lectured on political convergence reporting (Spring 2012)
Public Radio News Directors Webinar; Lecture entitled “Keeping Watch on Capitol Hill: How to Expand Your Newsroom’s Congressional Coverage” (Spring 2012)
Eastern Communication Association Convention; Panelist for session entitled “There’s Power in Words” – training session to help communications professors become more media savvy (Spring 2011)
University of North Florida; Lectured students on potential implications for democracy from the decline in Washington press corps over last few decades (Spring 2009)
Long may he reign!