Steve Silverman’s Writing & Media
From op-eds in The Washington Post to a live segment on C-SPAN to a YouTube video that got a law repealed, I’ve spent 25 years explaining complicated things in plain language and getting people to care.
Signature Know-Your-Rights Films
I created these films at Flex Your Rights, the nonprofit I founded. They anchored a YouTube channel with over 48 million views. We cut the full-length videos into dozens of targeted clips, each answering specific questions people were already searching for.
10 Rules for Dealing with Police
Narrated by Billy Murphy Jr. (The Wire), Freddie Gray’s family attorney.
BUSTED: The Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters
The film that started it all. Narrated by Ira Glasser, former ACLU Executive Director.
In the Press
Featured In
-
Reason
“This Bicycle Registration Law Gives Police Yet Another Excuse to Punish Insufficiently Meek Citizens” (2019)
-
Bethesda Magazine
“Is Your Bike Registered in Montgomery County? It’s Required.” (2019)
-
The New Yorker
“When Cops Choose Empathy” by Jamil Zaki (2015)
-
The Guardian
“Sandra Bland dashcam video raises doubts about officer’s basis for arrest” by Jamiles Lartey (2015)
-
Newsweek
“Federal Government’s Response to South Carolina Spring Valley High School Incident Is Unprecedented” by Max Kutner (2015)
-
The Washington Post
“You Have the Right to Remain Calm, Cool and Collected” by DeNeen L. Brown (2010)
Published Work
-
Reason
“7 Rules for Recording Police” (2012)
-
Gizmodo
“7 Rules for Recording Police” — republished from Reason (2012)
-
HuffPost
“A Cop’s Advice on Dealing with Cops” — ghostwritten for Maj. Neill Franklin (2010)
-
The Washington Post
Op-ed on Metro bag searches and civil liberties (2008)
-
The Washington Post
“Savage Sentences” — ghostwritten during FAMM internship (1999)
Media Appearances
5 Rules for Recording Police
Presentation at the Cato Institute. 904K views. (2014)
Exposed: Montgomery County’s Bike Registration Law
The video that sparked a law repeal. 301K views. (2019)
Fox News Freedom Watch
Know-your-rights segment with Judge Napolitano. (2010)
Fox 5 DC
Local segment on the Montgomery County bicycle law. (2019)
Content That Ranks & Converts
Here’s my approach. I take an unwieldy subject like mass tort litigation, break it down into every question someone would search for, and make it readable for humans and Google alike.
Perfectly Timed Content
$58K/mo in organic traffic value
My article ranked Top 5 for “Camp Lejeune Lawsuit” right before the president signed a law letting victims sue. The page took off, and the firm signed dozens of new cases within weeks.
371 Researched Pages
Police Transparency Directory
I built a searchable directory rating 371 police departments on how easy it is for civilians to file a complaint, designed to drive sales leads for the startup’s case management software.
#1 Ranking: “Mass Tort Marketing”
B2B Guide for Attorneys
Not a fun read. But if you’re a lawyer Googling stuff about lead generation, compliance, and channel strategy on the topic, this guide’s likely to be the first place you land.
Get in Touch
If your team needs sharper content, smarter systems, or someone to make AI actually work for you, let’s connect.
Location
Silver Spring, MD
Open to remote and DC-area roles