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SXSW Media Roundup

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CNN’s Apple-themed party, Photo Courtesy Brian Stelter, @brianstelter

The media stars were out in full force at this year’s SXSW in Austin, TX, which was characterized by big questions like ‘How do we separate truth from fiction in our social media timelines?’, ‘How do you engage online audiences in deeper, more meaningful ways?’, and ‘What’s with all the apples?’

CNN’s Jeff Zucker hosted an apple-themed party dubbed “Go Bananas”. Fake news, get it? Think apple pillows, apple old fashioneds, and for Plain Janes, regular old apples. The apple theme comes from CNN’s new campaign “Facts First”, which you can find below. Also at the party, David Axelrod hosted a live taping of his podcast “The Axe Files” with Pod Save America host Jon Favreau.

The New York Times celebrated its music issue at Irene’s Bar with a live band and discussions on music, tech, and politics. The Times also gave out “Truth” swag to remind folks to check out their new truth-in-news themed campaign.

Vox’s Jim Bankoff and Kara Swisher hosted an invite-only event called “The Deep End” with dinner supplied by food blog giant Eater where Recode’s Kara Swisher interviewed Jose Andres to a crowd that included Sen. Mark Warner, Ezra Klein, Austin mayor Steve Adler, and Katie Couric.

There’s still plenty of politics left at SXSW. Politico’s Daniel Lippmann will be hosting a panel with Joe Lockhart, Tim Miller, and Aubrey Quinn called “Communicating in the Era of Constant Crisis” on Tuesday at 9:30am at the JW Marriott.