Matt Laslo

Journalist · Lecturer · Public Speaker · Media Consultant

Washington, DC

Bureau chief / WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

The LCB — Laslo Congressional Bureau (2010 — PRESENT)   

  • Regionally-focused national wire service; 73+ million listeners, readers & viewers

  • Deliver tailored regional coverage from Washington to 60+ 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 Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of welfare fraud, award-winning Fast Company check Katie Porter rumor & Pulitzer-winning Willamette Week sent LCB to knock on door of (now former…) Oregon First Lady’s sham first husband

  • Pulitzer-winners This American Life & Latino USA asked The LCB for DC assists

  • Regularly break cannabis news for Marijuana Moment, Outlaw Report & MJ Biz Daily

  • Raw Story (2020 — PRESENT)

  • Trained 50+ interns (2006 — PRESENT)

    • LCB alumni: 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.

  • Sponsorships / VISAS  

    • Prison to pulpit: Michael J. Moore

      • Reference for Seattle Pacific Seminary; Master of Divinity (2025)

      • Re-sentencing request; King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg (2021)

    • Work visas: Pakistani reporter (2024; frmly. Daily Caller, now Epoch Times) & Canadian editor (2021; frmly. Buzzfeed, now Axios) 

    • Press accreditation: Two war correspondents w/ Ukraine Defense Ministry (2023 — )

    • Permanent Residency: Sponsored Thai intern (2022)

    • Asylum request: Fmr. Russian student, intern, news assistant (2020)

  • LCB credentials 

    • Home of former: Associated Press, Business Insider, NPR, Buzzfeed, CJR, CNN, Daily Beast, Daily Caller, Guardian, Kyiv Independent, LA Times, NY Post, New Republic, VICE News, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, VICE News Tonight w/ HBO, etc. 

Founder / MANAGING EDITOR  

Ask a Pol (2023 — PRESENT)  

          Contributor 

WIRED magazine (2019 — )  

  • 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, Real Clear Politics, 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 broke news: Gun violence, AOC & “The Squad,” cannabis, psilocybin, mental health, Middle East, Big Data, Covid’s impact on music venues, etc.

  • Consulting/ soundingboard: Helped direct Brooklyn-based newsroom’s political coverage, fact-check, build Election 2020 team, debunk rumors, strategize social media, etc.  

  • Most relied on, highest paid VICE “freelancer” globally; filed as many as five stories a week  

  • On-air correspondent for Emmy-winning show VICE News Tonight w/ HBO

Playboy (2019 – 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, cannabis, female incarceration, opioids, Russiagate, etc.

The Daily Beast (2015 – 2021)                        

WAMU 88.5 News (2010 – 2015)  

Other bylines

The Atlantic, Billboard, Campaigns & Elections Magazine, Chattanooga Times-Free Press, The Des, Newsweek, Omaha World-Herald, Deadline, The Trace, Euronews, USA Today, Washingtonian, NPR, etc. 

Mass shootings & gun violence coverage (2006 — PRESENT) 

Media Consultant

  • Advised award-winning newsrooms on generative artificial intelligence ethics 

  • Trained veteran journalists on GEO — Generative Engine Optimization 

    • Taught editors to move their focus from SEO to GEO aimed at courting AI chatbots 

  • Mentored veteran journalists and 50+ interns on today’s ever-evolving new media landscape 

  • Coached public radio news directors and station managers on ethical uses of generative AI 

  • Helped dozens of journalists break off on their own as independent contractors

    • Mastered sites like Substack and Patreon

  • Trained dozens of public radio reporters in their on-air delivery and on-screen presence

  • Technophile: As a technology expert, regularly testing and studying the latest gear 

    • Transformed at-home offices into professional studios with professional lighting

    • Advised reporters on audio 

      • From state-of-the-art wireless mics to next-generation cameras

  • Decent with a steamer and makeup kit

New Media  

  • X (Twitter) 50k+ followers across various X accounts 

  • Instagram 

    • Photos used by ABC, Boston Globe, CNN, NBC, Newsday, NPR, PBS, VICE News, Wall Street Journal, etc. (pre-Jan. 6) 

    • Photos & videos from within US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 seen by millions 

Adjunct Professor / Lecturer (2016 — )  

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 —)  

Columbia Journalism Review, SALT Weekly, NBC Think, Guardian, Thompson Reuters,  The News Station, Wisconsin State Journal & Lights, Cameras, Memes!

        On Tap Magazine

  • Explored intersection of booze & politics in the nation’s capital 

   Academic Overview (full list below) 

Public Speaking / WRITINGS 

Citations / QUOTATIONS

*Bonus: “Letter to OpenAI founder Sam Altman,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren & Rep. Lori Trahan (2024) 

References / EXAMPLES 

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 — ) 

Covenant College — BA, Philosophy (2006)   

  • Senior Integration Paper on director Pedro Almodovar’s representation of male heterosexuals

Awards & extras 

  • Read biography of each US President 

    • Studied Congress through White House (for the record, I hate biographies…)  

  • 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

    • Historic: Festival’s first-ever cannabis panel

  • 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 (now-PMJA); 2012 training webinar & 2014 political reporting panel with NPR hosts Ailsa Chang & Todd Zwillich 

Previous

The News station — TNS (Aug. 2020 – Dec. 2021, RIP)

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 post-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 $36,000 on Kickstarter; partnered w/Comedy Central’s 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 

  Public Speaking / ACADEMIA 

60+ Keynotes, Guest Lectures, Panels (2009 — PRESENT) 

  • American University; lecture on AI, 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 by DOGE cuts (Mar. 2025); PAID

  • Sunwater Foundation; lectured Air Force officers on roots of partisan press (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, Government & Public Policy); lecture on hyper-partisan algorithms are a throwback to nation’s partisan press corps in 1800 (Mar. 2024); PAID 

  • Johns Hopkins University (MA); recorded media lecture for core course (Oct. 2023); PAID 

  • Boston University; lecture on hyper-partisan printing presses of founding era (Sept. 2023); PAID 

  • TheCapitol.Net; lectured FAA officials on cameras impact on legislating (Aug. 2023); PAID

  • Johns Hopkins University (MA, 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, 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 media (Jan.  2023); PAID

  • TheCapitol.Net; lectured senior Air Force officials on new media (Mar. 2023); PAID 

  • TheCapitol.Net; lectured Wright-Patterson Air Force Base officers on press (Sept. 2022); PAID 

  • TheCapitol.Net; lectured government employees on evolving media (Aug. 2022); PAID 

  • IREX Georgian Media Partnership Program (GMPP); lectured 7 Republic of Georgia journalists on new media, partisanship & US media; host: Slate ‘s Mark Joseph Stern (2021)

  • TheCapitol.Net; lectured senior FAA officials on hyper-partisanship (Dec. 2021); PAID 

  • Northwestern, Medill School (MS, Journalism); independent media panelist (May 2021)

  • Johns Hopkins University (MA); moderated 2nd 2020 presidential debate (Oct. 2020); PAID 

  • Johns Hopkins University (MA); moderated presidential debate; 75 students (Sept. 2020); PAID 

  • Leadership Institute, How to be a Pundit w/ Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis; 40+ students (July 2020)  

  • TheCapitol.Net; media & politics workshop for 29 senior FAA officials (July 2020); PAID 

  • American University; lectured Comms students on bleak media landscape (May 2020) 

  • Johns Hopkins University (MA in Government & Public Policy); new media lecture (May 2020) 

  • Loyola University Maryland; lectured poli-sci students on pandemic coverage (May 2020) 

  • NYU; 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 20 diplomats and federal workers; explored 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 combating charges of “fake news” (Sept. 2019); PAID 

  • Aspen Ideas Festival; moderated “CBD: Hype or Hope?” panel; explored CBD myths & need for FDA regulations; only sold-out panel (June 2019); FREE TRAVEL & LODGING 

  • Historic: First-ever cannabis panel in history of Aspen Ideas Fest  

  • TheCapitol.Net; Capitol Hill workshop for 20+ FAA senior acquisition managers; explored underpinnings of today’s Reality TV Congress and Commander-in-Chief (May 2019); PAID 

  • Johns Hopkins University (MA, Government & Public Policy); Capitol tour & lecture debunking Golden Age Fallacy too often employed in political and media debates (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, 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); 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; 25 senior FAA acquisition managers; lecture: “Evolving Media & How It Covers Big Beats in Washington” on historical underpinnings of contemporary press (Dec. 2017); PAID 

  • Georgetown University (MA, Journalism); Freelancing for Journalists, panelist (Nov. 2017) 

  • George Mason University (Institute of Political Journalism); Lectured on how President Trump bypasses press corps w/ social media, much like FDR’s fireside chats (June 2017) 

  • Boston University; Lectured on President Trump’s first 100 days, with eye towards media’s (de)volving relationship with White House (April 2017); PAID  

  • Boston University (Distance Learning Program, Washington); Lectured students on the media’s role in Donald Trump’s rise to power (Feb. 2017); PAID  

  • Johns Hopkins University (MA, Government & Public Policy); co-moderated debate watch party with SAIS professor and former US Senate candidate Robert Guttman (Fall 2016) 

  • Boston University (Distance Learning Program,Washington); Lectured journalism students on the ins and outs of covering Congress (April 2016); PAID   

  • Paul Miller Washington Reporters Fellowship (Press Foundation); Capitol tour & history of DC press for 20 journalists; requested by National Press Club President Thomas Burr (Nov. 2015) 

  • American University (MA, Journalism); 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) 

  • Paul Miller Washington Reporters Fellowship (Washington Press Foundation); Guest lecture on changing relationship between contemporary press corps and today’s lawmakers (Oct. 2014) 

  • American University (MA, Journalism); 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 media complicit?” (2013)

  • Leadership for Healthy Communities Conference; new media techniques panel (Fall 2012) 

  • WAMU 88.5 News; political conventions panel w/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; “There’s Power in Words” panel – 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) 

50+ op-eds authored by “Prof” Laslo (sample below…) 

Generative AI features — 10+ law review citations 

Real-time media critic — 20+ citations

Section 230 (data privacy) — 20+ law review citations

Section 230 features assigned in 5+ syllabi

Government reform coverage — 10+ (mostly) book citations

Mass shootings, 2nd Amendment — 7+ review, think tank citations

“War on drugs,” race, opioids — 20+ law review & book citations 

Jan. 6, 2021 attack on US Capitol — 15+ interviews, profiles, quotes

                                  Reference 

Magazine feature writing — 20+ dictionary examples

Wikipedia — 20+ citations

Ralph M. Besse Library