Erin Shaw Street

This past summer Southern Living magazine launched The Daily South, a blog that the magazine’s editors hope will become the go-to destination for Southern culture, food, home, travel and style. It made sense that the woman at the helm of this new online project would be Erin Shaw Street. 

Street is travel editor at Southern Living and thus it’s her job to canvas the South to discover the latest destinations, tastemakers and trends. Erin has also been blogging for years and is a social media guru in her own right. In fact, Street led the first See Jane Write workshop, which was a seminar on Twitter. We’re excited she’ll be partnering with us again and serving as a panelist for our upcoming event Blogging and the Future of Community Journalism. 


In addition to her role as travel editor at Southern Living and the work she does for The Daily South, Street also manages editorial content for the brand’s social media. She is the recipient of more than 20 writing awards, including the 2012 Gold Lowell Thomas Award for “What Stands In A Storm,” Southern Living’s coverage of the 2011 tornadoes, and a 2012 Folio Award for “Heroes of the New South.”  

If you want to know more about blogging and/or journalism, Street is clearly a great person from whom to learn. And you can do just that on Thursday, Jan. 10 at our next event. Click here to register. 

There are two questions I asked all our panelists after they agreed to be part of this discussion. Check out Street’s responses below: 

What must bloggers who want to be considered journalists do to be taken seriously?

Woo, it’s difficult to become a journalist overnight! It takes a while. Journalists spend  years learning about the practice, which includes ethics, reporting, interview skills, writing, and editing. If a blogger is serious about learning these skills, commit to gaining this knowledge from the best. Read quality journalism. Seek out a journalist from whom you can learn — he or she might need to learn about blogging and/or social; strike up that conversation. Follow reputable journalism sources and watchdogs, like the Poynter Institute (poynter.org).

What main piece of advice would you give to folks who want to use their blogs to tell important stories in their communities?

You don’t need a Pulitzer to tell compelling stories. Tell them from your vantage point — from the carpool line, from the downtown you see growing into something more, from the conversations in which you and your friends dream. Get out and live in your community, then do the reporting. Talk to other people. Share what they and you experience.

If you have more questions for Erin Shaw Street leave them in the comments section and we will add them to our list of questions for our upcoming event.