SXSW in Austin, TX, is the place to be right now as the film and interactive portion are underway, and the music showcases portion, featuring keynote speaker Bruce Springsteen, is about to begin.
It makes sense then, that with hordes of leading-edge tech-heads in the area that speculations would arise about various new media forecasts and buy-outs. But the biggest rumor so far from Austin has been that CNN plans to buy social media and technology site Mashable for $200 million. If it’s true, the buyout would make a clear indication that CNN is moving into the social media game and hoping for greater reach with its media coverage. While CNN is popular, and CNN.com, in the past 5 years it’s been scooped many times over by various underground social media sites, blogs, and of course, Twitter posts.
On Monday, March 12, 2012, Mashable founder Pete Cashmore wrote in an email to staff, “Mashable’s one of the hottest brands here at SXSW and there’s bound to be rumors coming out of the festival. We’ve had a great presence here and I look forward to updating you guys when we get back.”
Stay tuned for more news from SXSW later this week.
