David Cohn Director of News, Circa; 2010-2011 Reynolds Fellow, Reynolds Journalism Institute David Cohn is the director of news for Circa, a mobile-first newsroom and pioneer of the "follow" feature for news arcs. Previously, he founded the first platform to crowdfund for independent reporting projects and was a pioneer in crowdsourced journalism. Cohn has written for numerous publications including Wired and The New York Times. He is a board member of the Online News Association. He holds a master’s degree in new media from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

1. Follow the news
NovemberConfidential

2. How we consume news
c. 1605-2008 c. Today
e.g. gap time while in line for coffee,
waiting at a subway stop, etc.

3. Current news apps take an existing format
and force it into a smaller screen where
readers also have a dramatically shorter
attention span
New York Times iPhone App

4. Traditional articles are too verbose for mobile
Problem: Articles take entirely too
long to read on smartphones
Solution: Break down news
into its atomic elements: facts,
stats, quotes, media, etc.
Penn State loses one sponsor, others could
follow
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — State Farm is pulling its ads from Penn State football
broadcasts, while General Motors is reconsidering its sponsorship deal and Wall Street is
threatening to downgrade the school's credit rating, suggesting the price of the sexual abuse
scandal could go well beyond the $60 million fine and other penalties imposed by the NCAA.
Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm said it had been reviewing its connection to Penn State
since the arrest of retired assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky last November. The
insurance company said it will pull ads from broadcasts of Nittany Lions home games but
continue to advertise during Penn State's away contests.
"We will not directly support Penn State football this year," State Farm spokesman Dave
Phillips said Tuesday. "We just feel it was the best decision."
State Farm had no immediate information on how much money is at stake.
The NCAA imposed unprecedented sanctions against Penn State on Monday, including the
fine, a four-year bowl ban and a sharp reduction in the number of football scholarships it
may offer.
The governing body also erased 14 years of victories, wiping out 111 of coach Joe Paterno's
wins and stripping him of his standing as the most successful coach in the history of big-time
college football.
NCAA President Mark Emmert said he relied on a report by former FBI Director Louis
Freeh, who found that Paterno and three top officials concealed child sexual abuse
allegations against Sandusky more than a decade ago to protect the school and its powerful
football program.
With Penn State's once-sterling reputation in tatters, the university could face an exodus of
sponsors unwilling to have their brands linked to scandal, said Kevin Adler, founder of
Chicago-based Engage Marketing Inc.
Adler said he would advise current sponsors to pull out of their deals with Penn State, adding
that most contracts have morality clauses giving advertisers an out.
"I think the public perception is pretty clear and definitive at this point. That brand is
damaged beyond the point of short-term repair. It is the sponsorship partner's obligation
first and foremost to look after the health of their own brand," Adler said. "None of the
sponsors owe Penn State anything."
Penn State loses one sponsor, others could
follow
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — State Farm is pulling its ads from Penn State football
broadcasts, while General Motors is reconsidering its sponsorship deal and Wall Street is
threatening to downgrade the school's credit rating, suggesting the price of the sexual abuse
scandal could go well beyond the $60 million fine and other penalties imposed by the NCAA.
Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm said it had been reviewing its connection to Penn State
since the arrest of retired assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky last November. The
insurance company said it will pull ads from broadcasts of Nittany Lions home games but
continue to advertise during Penn State's away contests.
"We will not directly support Penn State football this year," State Farm spokesman Dave
Phillips said Tuesday. "We just feel it was the best decision."
State Farm had no immediate information on how much money is at stake.
The NCAA imposed unprecedented sanctions against Penn State on Monday, including the
fine, a four-year bowl ban and a sharp reduction in the number of football scholarships it
may offer.
The governing body also erased 14 years of victories, wiping out 111 of coach Joe Paterno's
wins and stripping him of his standing as the most successful coach in the history of big-time
college football.
NCAA President Mark Emmert said he relied on a report by former FBI Director Louis
Freeh, who found that Paterno and three top officials concealed child sexual abuse
allegations against Sandusky more than a decade ago to protect the school and its powerful
football program.
With Penn State's once-sterling reputation in tatters, the university could face an exodus of
sponsors unwilling to have their brands linked to scandal, said Kevin Adler, founder of
Chicago-based Engage Marketing Inc.
Adler said he would advise current sponsors to pull out of their deals with Penn State, adding
that most contracts have morality clauses giving advertisers an out.
"I think the public perception is pretty clear and definitive at this point. That brand is
damaged beyond the point of short-term repair. It is the sponsorship partner's obligation
first and foremost to look after the health of their own brand," Adler said. "None of the
sponsors owe Penn State anything."

5. Social
Networking
Photo Sharing News
Before
Mobile
!
Complex
Time
wasting
Mobile
-First
!
Simplified
Time
Sensitive
Optimized
The best mobile experiences are native

6. News, written &
designed for
mobile
Instead of articles, Circa collects
the facts, stats, quotes, and other
media (photos, videos,etc), without
added fluff. We call these stories.
Stories broken down into “points”
that are navigated by swiping up
and down, physically similar to
going through a stack of flash
cards.
Points often contain rich media that
helps tell the story even better.

7. Follow news, for
the first time
ever
Articles are an inefficient way to tell
stories over time.
Rather than writing new articles each
time new details of a story emerges,
Circa’s editors add a point or more to
an existing story.
Readers are able to follow a storyline
and get push notifications as the news
continues to evolve.
Tapping on an updated storyline
brings the reader right to the new
information

8. At Circa, we atomize not summarize
Atomization: To break
down a story into its core
elements – the facts,
stats, quotes, media, etc.
Summarization: To create a smaller
version of an existing piece, cutting
content to make for a quicker read

9. Following is
sticky
After readers start
following breaking news
events, their usage
patterns drive massive
traffic spikes with each
development
Overall engagement also
increases after
discovering this utility
April 15, 2013 April 19, 2013April 17, 2013April 17, 2013 April 18, 2013
Sessions
Traffic spikes, corresponding with each
major update during week of Boston
tragedy

10. We’ve created the
most efficient news
process, ever.
By updating news stories as
they evolve over time, Circa
eliminates the need to
constantly repeat background
information — a massive
inefficiency in news
This has allowed Circa to scale
content almost exponentially
over time without adding equal
resources
Nov 1, 2012Dec 20, 2012Jan 31, 2013Mar 15, 2013Apr 29, 2013Jun 10, 2013Jul 22, 2013 Sep 3, 2013
Circa’s content production over time
Storyline updates New storylines