Circa News
| 200px | |
| Developer(s) | Circa 1605, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | October 16, 2012[1] |
| Development status | Defunct |
| Operating system | Web, Android, iOS |
| Type | News Aggregator |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | circanews |
Circa News or more simply, Circa, was a news service founded in 2012, by Matt Galligan, Ben Huh, and Arsenio Santos,[2] that aimed "to pursue a more pure definition of news with truths divorced from conjecture, opinion or biased analysis.”[1][3] Circa news stories consisted of individual bits of information from different sources and viewpoints that were stitched together into a story that could be shifted around and changed easily as stories developed.[4] The service was accessible via a website and a mobile app. The service announced on June 24, 2015 that it would be shutting down due to financial reasons,[5] though it is scheduled to relaunch in Spring 2016 under the ownership of media company Sinclair Broadcast Group.[6]
Features
Circa's mobile app and website initially offered “atomization” of news rather than “summarization”. “Atomization”, according to Circa, means “to break down a story into its core elements: facts, stats, quotes and media”, as opposed to a summary where content is reduced for quicker reading or users are linked elsewhere for the full story.[7]
Circa pushed multiple updates also known as “points” over the days, weeks and months as stories continued to develop.[8] The Circa app also allowed users to "Follow" particular stories in order to receive future developments.[9]
History
On October 16, 2012, Circa launched their application for iOS.[1]
On September 24, 2014, Circa announced version 3.0 of their mobile applications. The update added new features such as a daily briefing service called "Wire", which aggregates top stories over a 24-hour period.[10][11]
In February 2015, a web version of Circa was announced.[12][13]
On April 30, 2015, Circa announced that it was looking for a buyer after failing to obtain a new round of venture capital funding.[14][15]
On June 21, 2015, Circa halted its news reporting operations due to financial reasons.[16] Three days later, on June 24, Circa announced that it will shut down and go on an "indefinite hiatus" due to its inability to secure an acquirer.[16] CEO and co-founder Matt Galligan bid farewell to Circa in a blog post titled "Farewell to Circa News";[5] in the post, he admired Circas' successes, but lamented the company's failure to become a sustainable business.[17]
Acquisition and relaunch
On November 22, 2015, a few former Circa employees were among those discovering that the circanews.com web domain was again active, stating a simple message that "Circa will be back soon..." A report by the Nieman Journalism Lab revealed that the domain name was registered one month earlier to Sinclair Broadcast Group.[18] Sinclair confirmed on December 7, 2015, that it had acquired Circa News, its intellectual property, and assets earlier in 2015, and aimed to relaunch Circa in the spring of 2016.[6] The acquisition fulfills a possibility Circa CEO Matt Galligan mentioned at Circa's closure the previous June that the company could sell or white-label its technology to a news-producing company for use in its own apps.[18]
Circa, which will be funded by Sinclair and other potential investors, will be led by John Solomon as chief creative officer. (Solomon was formerly vice-president of content & business development for the Washington Times.) Circa's app and website will be redesigned but retain its “atomization” approach to delivering news.[19] The new Circa will also have "a heavy focus on short and long form video, optimized for mobile and social media engagement." It will utilize original reporting from its own staff, user-generated content, and access to video feeds and reportage from Sinclair's 172 owned-or-operated TV stations.[20][21] Sinclair also aims to "let the content to drive [Circa]" and not let it adhere to any set political or cultural viewpoint, citing Vice News and Breitbart as "partisan-driven" news sites the new Circa will not intentionally emulate.[21]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Set to Launch Digital News Site Circa, Sinclair Taps John Solomon as COO," from Broadcasting & Cable, 12/7/2015
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Is Circa back? The mobile app might be returning via local TV stations," from Nieman Lab, 11/23/2015
- ↑ "Sinclair Sets Circa Debut, Hires COO," from TVNewsCheck, 12/7/2015
- ↑ "It's official: Something called Circa will launch next year..." from Nieman Lab, 12/7/2015
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Sinclair Acquired and Will Relaunch Mobile News Site Circa," from The Wall Street Journal, 12/7/2015
