Mediatwits 152: Meerkat, live-streaming video break out at SXSW

If you’ve ever been to Austin, Texas, then you know they like to keep things weird. And things have certainly been weird at this year’s SXSW. Marketers have turned to Tinder robots, protests against robots, and feline “tech correspondents” to try to make an impression at the ever-growing festival. Over the years, the importance of SXSW Interactive as a proving ground for new tech has waned; so much so that some have argued it’s no longer accurate to call it such. That’s not to say there weren’t important discussions happening at SXSW. Google chairman Eric Schmidt was called out for repeatedly interrupting fellow panelist Megan Smith, the CTO of the United States, during a panel on diversity in the tech industry. But you didn’t have to worry about missing out if you decided to skip the festival this year. Not only has there been a ton of coverage but you could also hop onto Meerkat and watch live streams from the conference. The live-streaming app was arguably the biggest tech story to come out of Austin with celebrity adopters such as Jimmy Fallon and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. We will dig into the best of SXSW with Meg Cramer, producer at Marketplace; Ari Levy, senior tech reporter at CNBC; Steve Goldbloom, host of PBS Everything But The News; and Andrew Lih at American University. PBS MediaShift’s Mark Glaser will host and Jefferson Yen will be producing.