Joseph Daniel Lasica is an American entrepreneur, public speaker and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He is the author of ''Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation'' () (2005), a book about the copyright wars and the future of media.

Early years

Lasica was born in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...

and graduated from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, where he holds a BA in communication. He began working in journalism as a reporter for the Passaic

Herald News The ''Herald News'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper headquartered in Woodland Park, New Jersey, that focuses on the Passaic County, New Jersey area. Today's ''Herald News'' is descended from several papers, but did not come to be until two Pass ...

, then held several editing positions at the Sacramento Union and Sacramento Bee in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He left newspapers in 1997 when he joined

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Sidewalk.com The Sidewalk.com website was formerly the location of a Microsoft Corporation local information project. The website is now owned by Ask Media Group. History Sidewalk.com was first registered in 1995 by a C.D. Bell of Los Angeles, CA, as a websi ...

city guide as copy chief and managing editor.

Media career

From 1997 to 2005, Lasica wrote dozens of freelance articles for publications such as the American Journalism Review, where he was its first new media columnist; the

Online Journalism Review The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school’s Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J ...

, where he was its chief columnist; and the now-defunct

Industry Standard ''Industry Standard'' is the sixth studio album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1982. This was the second of two albums released under the moniker The Dregs, and is their only album featuring vocals (by Alex Ligertwood of Santana and Patrick Sim ...

magazine. In 2003 Lasica was editor of the

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

''We Media: How Audiences Are Shaping the Future of News and Information'', published by the Media Center at the American Press Institute. From 2004 to 2005 he was a columnist for

Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editori ...

, a technology blog. His book "Darknet" came out in May 2005. In March 2005 he co-founded Ourmedia, a grassroots media community and one of the first video hosting and sharing sites on the Internet, with co-founder

Marc Canter Marc Canter is an American internet entrepreneur, speaker, technology evangelist and early pioneer of online software,LEFLER, LUKE (2015)The New Stack Makers: Marc Canter and the Days Before Macromedia — Part One". ''The New Stack''. Retrieved ...

. He served as its chief executive until his departure in December 2008. Lasica was also founder and president of Socialmedia.biz, a consulting firm and

collaborative blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

that provides social media services to companies. In May 2009 he launched Socialbrite.org, a learning center and collaborative blog for nonprofits and social change organizations.

Selected works

*''Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation'' He has written three reports for the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

: (1) ''The Mobile Generation: Global Transformations at the Cellular Level''.J. D. Lasica, "Rapporteur",
The Mobile Generation:
Global Transformations at the Cellular Level'': ''A Report of the Fifteenth Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology'' (Washington, D.C.:

, February 2007), accessed August 17, 2007. (2) ''Civic Engagement on the Move: How mobile media can serve the public good''.J. D. Lasica, "Rapporteur",
Civic Engagement on the Move:
How mobile media can serve the public good'': ''A Report of the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Mobile Media and Civic Engagement'' (Washington, D.C.:

, July 2008), accessed September 4, 2009. (3) ''Identity in the Age of Cloud Computing: The next-generation Internet's impact on business, governance and social interaction''.J. D. Lasica, "Rapporteur",
Identity in the Age of Cloud Computing:
The next-generation Internet's impact on business, governance and social interaction'': ''A Report of the Seventeenth Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology'' (Washington, D.C.:

, May 2009), accessed September 4, 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lasica, J.D. American male journalists Living people American bloggers Year of birth missing (living people) Rutgers University alumni 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male bloggers