About LLFCC

I (Matthew Lasar) started producing Lasar's Letter on the FCC in 2005. When I first wrote this "about" page I described the blog as such: "LLFCC (Lasar's Letter on the FCC) is an independent newsblog that offers information and analysis about the Federal Communications Commission and other media regulatory agencies on a procedure by procedure basis. LLFCC is not affiliated with any company, think tank, institute, or foundation."

That isn't true any more. Now I write about the FCC for the Ars Technica news and information service. But I continue to link my Ars Technica stories to this site. Read more about the history of LLFCC here!

Other writers 

Many individuals have written for LLFCC, including Robert Chapin, Helen Yamamoto, Carmen Ausserer, Jay Koch, Bob Mason, and Lauren J. Powell. Jason Randell has done excellent programming work for the site, and continues to save the site from self-destruction from time to time.

Lasar's Letter on the FCC (LLFCC) celebrated its second birthday this month. Yes, as of November 22nd, LLFCC was two years old, with over 500 blog entries under its belt.

I will not retell the story of the exotic and glamorous origins of this site, which can be thrilled to here. But I thought I might share some thoughts, conclusions, and uncertainties about blogging so far.

1. There's no point in trying to compete with the trade press for breaking stories. None of the big news aggregators, especially Google news, pick up this site. So it's better to write background pieces based on FCC filings than to ricochet the latest agency announcement. Breaking stuff will be up on major trade press sites way faster than I can get it out.

2. It's hard to find other people to blog with. Everybody wants their own blog with their own content management system, news aggregator, template, widgets, and archive calendar. I guess it's like having one's own private universe. Periodically somebody I know threatens to write for my site, but with the notable exception of my pal Bob Mason, they just don't seem to be able to get past the writing part, which is a formidable barrier if you want to be a writer.

The future of blogging is in collaboration.

Do you blog about media and telecommunications policy? Is your focus similar to LLFCC.net? Would you like to reach a bigger audience? Maybe even generate more advertising income?

Well, I'm looking for writers with similar interests to LLFCC to build a collaborative blog about media and telecommunications politics. Ideally you:

• Write on a regular basis on your blog
• Try to generate original stories
• Can work cooperatively with others, including people with whose perspectives you sometimes disagree

Let's face it; a site with three or four dedicate bloggers producing original material is going to draw a much bigger audience than you or me blogging separately. If this proposal interests you, please as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from you.

Matthew Lasar, LLFCC.net

Welcome to the LLFCC podcast! In addition to blogging about the FCC, I file radio news features with Free Speech Radio News and other venues about broadcasting and telecommunications issues. Here are the latest stories:

September 20, 2007
Karen J. Bond speaking at the FCC's fifth hearing on media ownership, held in Chicago
Bond is Executive Director of the National Black Coalition for Media Justice. MP3 file here . . . 

July 27, 2007
This scares me. Senators aghast at government's plans for DTV transition
The Federal Communications Commission has ordered all television license holders to convert from analog to digital broadcasting after February 17th of 2009. All new television sets manufactured in the united states must be capable of receiving these digital broadcasts. But millions of Americans have no idea that this transition is coming, and that their analog tv sets won't work after that date. Many of them are elderly, poor, and live in isolated rural areas, where they depend on tv for news about emergencies. Yesterday the united states senate commerce committee held hearings about how to help them and get the word out on the digital transition. Matthew Lasar reports . . . MP3 file here

I've been blogging on this site about the Federal Communications Commission for about a year and a half. I've learned a lot, and perhaps you've learned something from my writings as well. But I need to move on and write elsewhere. If you know of that possible elsewhere, I'd be grateful to hear about it.

Why do I want to abandon my blog? The most immediate reason is that this fancy dancy content management system I set up tends to crash a lot (and so does the mirror site I created as a backup!). So I'm spending a lot more time being a bad systems administrator than I want to.

But the most important reason is because I'm tired of blogging alone, to modify Robert Putnam's famous phrase. It seems to me that I'd learn a lot more, reach more folks, and have more fun writing for an organization, profit or non-profit, than I do blogging solo.

And so I'm putting out the situation wanted sign. I'm open to a lot of scenarios, including a for-profit advertising site. In that context I'd ask for some fraction of the revenue for my writing. I'm also open to a non-profit group. But, caveat emptor, I'm a free spirit, and I tend to stray from party lines on occasion.

Who is The Citizen? He's just another podcaster who wants you to pay attention to what's going on at the Federal Communications Commission. You can play his latest cast here and catch his xml feed here.

. . . so click here to go to the main page.