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Circa

Key links:

Primary website:
cir.ca

Primary Twitter:
@circa

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Editor’s Note: Encyclo has not been regularly updated since August 2014, so information posted here is likely to be out of date and may be no longer accurate. It’s best used as a snapshot of the media landscape at that point in time.

Circa is a mobile-only app for reading news that presents stories as collections of facts from various sources.

For its focus on presenting news the way readers want it on their phones—in short chunks, added to as a story changes—Circa has been hailed as an example of the “post-article” news world. Its minimalist design breaks stories up into pieces easily viewable on a phone screen. Users can follow stories of interest and receive updates as new facts, statistics, or images are added. Circa relies heavily on aggregation while using editors to string together the content.

The app was founded by Cheezburger Network’s Ben Huh and launched in October 2012. It released an updated focused on breaking news a year later.

By June 2013, the company employed 14 people producing 40 to 60 stories every day.

Peers, allies, & competitors:

Summly, Storify, Quartz, Flipboard, Upworthy

Recent Nieman Lab coverage:

March 27, 2023 / Joshua Benton

Leaked code, blocked journalists, and billions gone: It’s just another few days in late Twitter — If you read much about politics online, particularly on the left, it’s a phrase you’ve probably seen: late capitalism. Its meaning isn’t always clear — it’s shifted over time — but contemporar...

March 27, 2023 / Dan Gillmor

The corrections dilemma: Admitting your mistakes increases accuracy but reduces audience trust, a new study finds — We have some good news for journalists who want to ensure that the public has the best and most accurate information. Corrections work. When you correct your errors, the people who see the corrections have a more accurat...

March 23, 2023 / Mark Jacob

Why journalism schools won’t quit Fox News — Fox News appears to have committed a gross breach of journalism ethics: intentionally lying to its audience about the 2020 election. This appalls many people in America’s journalism schools. But interviews with three p...

March 23, 2023 / Sarah Scire

The FTC proposes a formal “click to cancel” provision for subscriptions — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sought to end “click to subscribe, call to cancel” subscription policies for years, labeling the practice — common in the news industry — “dark” and ̶...

March 23, 2023 / Hanaa' Tameez

The El País reading club creates community among Spanish-language readers — In February 2020, Spain’s leading newspaper, El País launched its metered paywall and subscription. Readers get 10 free articles a month before being prompted to subscribe for €10 per month. El País closed out ...

All Lab posts on Circa »

Recently around the web, from Mediagazer:

All Mediagazer posts on Circa »

Primary author: Sarah Darville. Main text last updated: June 13, 2014.

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