Ben LaMothe

I am a web and social media strategist with Jacksonville, Florida-based advertising and marketing consultancy Renaissance Creative, and a postgraduate student at City University London, where I am currently writing a dissertation about how mobile phone applications impact the ways news is distributed and consumed. I am based in Jacksonville, Florida.

My immediate background is in journalism. However more recently I have begun to work in the fields of social media marketing, community management, media blogging and web development. I previously worked as a web and social media specialist with corporate PR and marketing consultancy Glasshouse Partnership, where my primary role was devising web, social media and blogging strategy for corporate and individual clients.

I have also worked as a social media consultant for United Business Media, and as a web intern with Telegraph.co.uk, where I assisted in the re-launch of their blogs.

Even a bad news aggregator is better than none at all

In the face of defeat, America's news outlets continue to find ways to innovate. Mind you, they aren't ground-breaking innovations. But they're innovations none-the-less.

This week online news magazine Slate launched a new aggregator called Slatest. It's not great, but at least it's something. I just wish I could say the same for British media.

by Ben LaMothe 26 August 2009 11:01am 0 comments

Q&A: AnnArbor.com blogs leader Ed Vielmetti

In March it was announced that The Ann Arbor News, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, would be closing. The paper had been publishing since 1835. Sad as it was, it wasn't an unusual considering the state of newspapers nationwide. What made it unique was what happened next.

The newspaper was closing, but in its place, AnnArbor.com would launch as a mostly online-only, hyperlocal news portal. As the industry remains in flux and more news executives are turning to the web, AnnArbor.com is being seen as a case study in online local news. Ed Vielmetti is AnnArbor.com's blogging leader.

by Ben LaMothe 14 August 2009 11:00am 3 comments

Tomorrow's news companies: small, lean and venture capitalist

Future news organisations, the ones that make it out of the recession, will look much different than pre-recession times. They'll be smaller and leaner. But if they're smart, they'll also have a big role in VC for companies developing products that could help them gain a competitive advantage.

by Ben LaMothe 28 July 2009 10:49am 2 comments

Five reasons why consumers will reject news paywalls

Much has been said about newspapers looking more fondly at the possibility adding a paywall to their precious content so 'bloggers stop stealing it' and Google 'stops being a vampire'.

Almost all of the arguments centre around what the business side of this decision is. While that is important, the reaction of the public matters much more.

by Ben LaMothe 27 July 2009 10:10am 2 comments

Q&A: Spot.Us founder David Cohn on crowdfunded journalism

In the search for ways to fund journalism, some organisations have flirted with the possibility of crowdfunding some stories. While there have been a few minor successes (such as the non-profit hyperlocal project MinnPost), David Cohn's Spot.Us has garnered the most attention.

by Ben LaMothe 20 July 2009 17:25pm 0 comments

How newspapers lost the breaking news game to a Twittering 19-year-old kid

Across much of the western world, news organisations are in a fight for their life. Between Google 'stealing' their news and bloggers 'stealing their readers', things are not well in the land of news. The next challenge to news's authority is a 19-year-old kid from the Netherlands.

by Ben LaMothe 17 July 2009 13:40pm 8 comments

Opportunities for news in augmented reality and geotagging mobile applications

Like with most things iPhone-related, the sight of a new application sends people into a frenzy. However the latest development in augmented reality applications could be useful for both ecommerce and the news industry.

by Ben LaMothe 13 July 2009 01:36am 0 comments

Q&A: Broadersheet.com CEO Peter Clark

Earlier today I wrote about whether a news aggregator could be a success in the UK. Prospects are not good, and even Briton Nick Denton, founder of Gawker.com, says he wouldn't dare do it.

However, despite the pessimism, there exists an interest in giving it a try. The first major entrant into the UK news aggregation scene looks to be Cambridge-based Broadersheet.com.

by Ben LaMothe 09 July 2009 16:17pm 0 comments

Aggregation in the UK: Can it work?

Americans and the British are quite similar, but also quite different. Jokes that make Americans laugh may not make a British person laugh; food that a Brit might love could repulse an American; and so on. It seems the way the two nations consume news online is different, too.

by Ben LaMothe 09 July 2009 11:00am 0 comments

The Economist launches a massive ad campaign - but is that a good thing?

The Economist launches massive ad campaign Today it was announced that the London-based current affairs/economics magazine The Economist is launching a far-reaching ad campaign aimed at broadening its readership. It's a unique title in a unique position with an equally unique readership. But an ad campaign could spoil that...