Who is Lascher?

Please click here to view Bill Lascher’s resume.

Bill Lascher is a freelance journalist and literary nonfiction writer.  He specializes in telling stories about the intersection of the environment with policy, science and social, political, economic and technological forces. He also writes general interest features and stories of community and social change, with the occasional food review and cultural story in the mix. Lascher co-founded and helps run the Oregon News Incubator, which provides support structures, tools and collaborative space for independent and emerging media producers. In addition to freelance journalism and writing, Lascher is available for Web content consultation, proofreading, copy-editing, research and copywriting on a contract basis.

A recipient of a Master’s in Specialized Journalism degree from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, Lascher was a member of that program’s inaugural class. At Annenberg, he studied science writing with K.C. Cole while also studying environmental science and policy, global civil society and sustainable cities. Under the guidance of Larry Pryor, Lascher’s studies were punctuated by a master’s project consisting of in-depth reporting exploring public transit in Southern California, how the region’s transportation network can be improved, the tension between pragmatism and the need for radical change, and how current political and economic shifts may impact this discussion.

Previously, Lascher was editor of the Ventura County Reporter, a weekly alternative newspaper in Ventura County, where he also reported, wrote features, and wrote more than a few food and drink columns. He also worked as a technology and legal affairs reporter for the Pacific Coast Business Times, a business journal serving California’s Tri-County region of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura.

A graduate of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine and Oberlin College, Lascher helped launch the community-oriented Portland Pigeon (in Maine). In college he interned at the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram and was a news writer, news editor, perspectives editor and world & nation editor at the Oberlin Review.