Mediabistro

If you’ve got a place in your heart for Southern traditions (hold the fried chicken stereotypes, please), you could land a byline in South.

This Savannah, Georgia-based pub concentrates on highlighting remarkable Southerners and any brand new establishments and trends happening in the Creative Coast. (Think that Southern belle who made it big, or that hip, new designer from Nashville who’s got the fashion world buzzing.)

“The pub has an entire section dedicated to profiles on interesting Southern characters which definitely lends itself to outside ideas,” said managing editor Lauren Hunsberger. ”The characters, events, culture and stories are second to none and provide for some of the best reading in the world.”

For more on word count and which sections are open to freelancers, read How To Pitch: South.

Sometimes pitching feels like auditioning for a seat in the high school cafeteria. Only the popular kids get the good bylines, right?

Not true at Filter. These  editors say all you have to do to break in is love good music and introduce yourself through email. Yep, that’s it.

“Be creative and show us who you are,” said  Pat McGuire, the editor-in-chief. “You have to understand that there are so many people seeking similar positions that you have to make yourself stand out a little bit.”

McGuire added one piece of advice on getting your foot in Filter‘s door. “I have a sense of humor; everybody at Filter does. So entertain us. Make us remember you — without being unprofessional.”

To find out what to do once you have McGuire’s attention, check out How To Pitch: Filter.

From hiring Keith Olbermann and Internet pioneer  Cenk Uygur to expanding into daytime with shows featuring  Stephanie Miller and Bill Press, Current TV has undergone a great deal of changes since its launch in 2005. And co-founder Joel Hyatt, who stepped back into the CEO role in July 2012, says the network won’t be stopping its hiring spree any time soon.

“We’re going to look for budding journalists, young journalists who we think are really smart with a bright future, get them on Current,” said Hyatt in our So What Do You Do? interview.

And with this younger on-air talent appealing to a more engaged audience, the Current chief hopes to present a clearer view of true journalism on the airwaves.

“There are times in which the cable networks do a really outstanding job; there are times in which I think the job they do is embarrassingly bad,” he said. “I think that what journalism needs to do is seek truth. And that means care about facts, care about science, care about reasoning, and help provide context to the audience.”

But the reality, said Hyatt, is that “we’ve seen so much of professional journalism dissipate away to be replaced by infotainment, entertainment and frankly I think pure fraud, since it’s being passed along, purported to be news. It’s just a fraud to call it news.” Read the full interview.

As an official judge for the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition, Joel Schwartzberg has seen his share of cringe-worthy essays. And, in his latest piece for mediabistro.com AvantGuild members, he says there were a few glaring errors that kept them from being potentially powerful stories.

“The biggest mistake essay writers make is finishing a piece at three in the morning, deciding it’s brilliant and, without getting any feedback, sending it to The New Yorker,” said Susan Shapiro, a writing professor published in The New York Times‘ “Lives” and “Modern Love” columns. ” After you write your piece, get a serious critique in a class, a writing workshop or by a tough ghost editor. Listen carefully to the criticism; then rewrite.”

Get more tips from Shapiro and other writing pros in The 7 Biggest Mistakes Personal Essay Writers Make.

Does the approach of spring have you daydreaming about vacays and road trips? Well, if your story is an interesting one, it could net you $1/word at AAA’s  exclusive publication, Journey.

Because Journey is a regional publication, editor-in-chief Nicole Meoli‘s first priority is to hire local writers to offer an insider perspective on the mag’s home turf. “The main stable of writers I work with are from Washington [state],” she said. However, she’s not opposed to working with freelancers from further away, as long as they bring locally relevant ideas to the table.

For more on breaking into the magazine’s feature well, read How To Pitch: Journey. [sub req'd]