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Type of site | News, Lifestyle, Travel, and Culture |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Dissolved | March 26, 2019; 6 years ago (2019-03-26) |
| Successor(s) | The National Desk (social media accounts) |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Editor | Lou Ferrara (chief content officer), Bonny Ghosh (managing editor) |
| URL | circa.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | October 16, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-10-16) (initial) July 18, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-07-18) (relaunch) |
| Current status | Defunct |
Circa News, also known asCirca, was an Americanonline newspaper and entertainment service. The site was founded in 2012 by Matt Galligan,Ben Huh and Arsenio Santos.[1] The service had news stories and features consisting of individual bits of information.[2]
The service went offline for financial reasons on June 24, 2015,[3] and was then relaunched in spring 2016 under the ownership of theSinclair Broadcast Group media company.[4][5][6] Under Sinclair, the website's coverage was described by some media outlets asconservative[7] although the site claimed to report from a neutral point of view.[8]
The site was discontinued abruptly on March 26, 2019, with Sinclair stating that industry changes did not justify the continuation ofCirca News as a website (and three days before sister propertyKidsClick was also closed with little notice).[9] The former domain for the site now redirects to Sinclair's streaming portal,Stirr. Circa'ssocial media accounts remained active but dormant, with their handles changed to the initials "TND"; Sinclair would later repurpose the accounts for its headline news serviceThe National Desk, removing all traces of Circa from the accounts, but also retaining the existing subscribers of those feeds.[10]
On October 16, 2012,Circa launched its application foriOS.[11] The app featured news and information from different sources and viewpoints that were stitched together into a story designed to be shifted around and changed easily as stories developed. The founders' aim forCirca was "to pursue a more pure definition of news with truths divorced from conjecture, opinion or biased analysis".[11][12]
On September 24, 2014,Circa announced version 3.0 of its mobile applications. The update added a daily briefing service called "Wire", whichaggregates top stories over a 24-hour period.[13] Circa would expand from the app world to the internet in February 2015, with the announcement of a web version, CircaNews.com.[14][15]
On April 30, 2015,Circa announced that it was looking for a buyer after failing to obtain a newfunding round ofventure capital financing.[16][17] On June 21, 2015,Circa halted its news reporting operations for financial reasons.[18] Three days later, on June 24,Circa announced that it would shut down and go on an "indefinite hiatus" following its inability to secure an buyer.[18] CEO and co-founder Matt Galligan bade farewell toCirca in a blog post titled "Farewell to Circa News"[3] in which, he admired the successes ofCirca, but lamented the company's failure to become a sustainable business.[19]
On November 22, 2015, a few formerCirca employees reported that theCircaNews.com website was again active, stating a simple message that "Circa will be back soon...". A report by theNieman Journalism Lab said that the site'sdomain name was registered a month earlier toSinclair Broadcast Group.[20] Sinclair confirmed on 7 December 2015, that it had acquired Circa News, itsintellectual property and assets earlier in 2015, and aimed to relaunchCirca in spring 2016.[4] The acquisition ofCirca was to be funded by a Sinclair subsidiary (Sinclair Digital Ventures) and potentially other investors.Circa CEO Matt Galligan mentioned at its 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.[20]
The revivedCirca formally went live on 18 July 2016, with a redesigned app and a website using a new URL, Circa.com.[21] From December 2016,Circa was led by thechief operating officerJohn Solomon, the former vice-president of content and business development forThe Washington Times. Solomon was hired by Sinclair asCirca'schief creative officer in December 2015.[22] Solomon leftCirca to joinThe Hill in July 2017.[23]
The app announced in March 2017, that it would be shutting down.[24]
Sinclair says that it aims to "let the content drive [Circa]" and not let the site adhere to any set political or cultural viewpoint, describingVice News andBreitbart as "partisan-driven" news sites that the newCirca would not intentionally emulate. Though Sinclair has airedconservativepolitical content on its stations, its stated intention withCirca was to present information with "no spin, just facts and transparency" and in "an irreverent tone" that will allow the site's target audience (young adults 18 to 35 years old) to form its own opinions.[8][21]
Circa's reporting has been characterized by other media outlets asconservative.[6][25][7]Circa attracted attention for its reporting onRussian interference in the 2016 election, which broke many stories seen to be favorable to the Trump administration.[6] According toThe Hill, Circa's reporting on Russian interference has "only a peripheral focus on whether anyone in Trump’s inner circle had contact with Russian officials during the campaign".[6]
It has been reported that Sinclair had made an agreement with the Trump campaign to be given greater access in exchange for favorable coverage.[6][5] Solomon said that reporting in many mainstream outlets was "reckless, false, unfair and imbalanced".[6]
Since its original iteration, theCircamobile app and website have offered "atomization" of news rather than "summarization". "Atomization", as originally expressed byCirca, 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.[26] Circa initially pushed multiple updates, also known as "points", over the days, weeks and months as stories continued to develop.[27] TheCirca app also allowed users to "follow" particular stories in order to receive future developments.[28]
As relaunched in 2016, theCirca app and theCirca.com website retained the original "atomization" approach to delivering the news. The redesignedCirca emphasized "short- and long-form video, optimized for mobile and social media engagement".Circa utilizes original reporting from its own 80-person staff,user-generated content and access tovideo feeds and reportage from Sinclair's 172 owned-or-operatedTV stations.[8][29]
Circa features several portals and micro-sites accessible through its website, app and social media platforms. These include:[21][30]
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