About Southern Living

Staff Author

Fri, August 26, 2022 at 7:32 PM UTC

6 min read

Southern Living magazine was first published in February 1966 with the goal of being thoroughly Southern in every issue, focusing on food, homes, gardens, and travel.
The magazine has won numerous awards over the years, including the 2023 Webby Award Nominee for Best Social Video and the 2022 FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards for various categories.
Southern Living is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, striving to amplify diverse voices and multicultural stories across the region, and has a strict editorial policy that includes fact-checking, independence, and impartiality.

Who We Are

At Southern Living , we celebrate the food, homes, and places that define our region. We seek out the best of the South in everything we do, and we find endless inspiration in Southern culture and traditions. We're serious about our recipes, our hospitality, and making our homes as beautiful and welcoming as possible. We are a guide to the seasons, a helping hand during the holidays, and a champion of Southern creativity.

The first issue of Southern Living was published in February 1966 . When The Progressive Farmer Company launched the brand, they declared it the "Magazine of the Modern South." The brand's north star was that it had to stay Southern. "It must and will be in every issue as thoroughly Southern as crepe myrtle, longleaf pine, Mardi Gras, fig preserves, and black-eyed peas," said an early prospectus. It was a radical idea at the time—an aspirational guide to Southern food, homes, gardens, and travel—and it succeeded because the editors understood the power of Southern identity and the practical needs of the audience. It was innovative, risky, and transformative. Within 10 years it was one of the most profitable magazines in the country ("The Most Profitable Magazine in the U.S.", June 15, 1977, Forbes ).

Today, we haven't strayed far from the vision laid out by our founders in 1966. We embrace that very same idea by celebrating a more progressive South, one that's constantly evolving. We're committed to celebrating the region in all of its complexity, and we're dedicated to sharing and amplifying diverse voices and multicultural stories in every corner of the South.

Every day, we cover the region with a dynamic mix of content that includes daily news, service, inspiration, real-people profiles, and trusted advice. We're telling soulful stories that readers can't find anywhere else—stories of small towns, lost recipes, and unique traditions. We're engaging with our audience all the time, whether we're swapping recipes in our "What's Cooking with Southern Living " Facebook group or helping readers identify paint colors on Instagram . We also believe in great storytelling, especially when it highlights meaningful aspects of Southern culture and those who are making the South a better place.

Awards and Recognitions

2023: Webby Award Nominee for Best Social Video in the "How-To, Explainer and DIY" category
2022: Signal Awards Bronze Medalist, Individual Episode-Lifestyle category for Biscuits & Jam "Remembering John Prine (with Guest Fiona Prine)"
2022: FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards: Winner, Full Issue, Shelter/Home/Garden: South's Best Issue, April 2022
2022: FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards: Honorable Mention, Single Article, Consumer Lifestyle for " Ms. Opal's Mission "
2022: Webby Award Honoree for Southern Living's TikTok channel in the Social, Art/Culture/Lifestyle category
2022 ASME Award Winner for Photography and Illustration, Best Service and Lifestyle Story for "The Magic of Meringue," photographs by Antonis Achilleos
2021: FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards: Winner, Full Issue, Consumer Home and Living; Winner, Single Article, " Black Restaurants That Fed the Civil Rights Movement "
2020: IACP Awards: Winner, Culinary Travel Writing: "Jubilee, Jubilee," by Rick Bragg
2019: FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards: Digital Momentum Finalist; Editorial Team of the Year - Honorable Mention; IACP Awards: Culinary Travel Writing: "The Most Perfect Sandwich in the World," by Rick Bragg
2018: Society of American Travel Writers/Lowell Thomas Award: Gold Winner, Travel Coverage
2017: FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards: Winner, Use of Photography, City and Regional
2016: Ad Age: Magazine of the Year Finalist; ASME Best Cover Contest: Finalist
2014: National Magazine Award Finalist, Personal Service: "30 Secrets to Southern Charm," by Caroline McKenzie; FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards: Winner, Feature Design

Editorial Guidelines

Our team of editors and writers are constantly seeking out what's new and exciting in the South. We take great pride in our work and strive to create original, accurate, authoritative, and well-researched content free of ethical concerns, conflicts, and misinformation.

We uphold the principles of the People Inc. Content Integrity Promise including the following editorial policies:

Sourcing

The Southern Living editors adhere to strict standards for article sourcing. We rely on current and reputable primary sources, such as expert interviews, government, city, and state organizations, and professional and academic institutions. All data points, facts, and claims are backed up by at least one reputable source.

Our content strives to serve and represent all communities. A cornerstone of our reporting and sourcing is to consider multiple perspectives that includes BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women.

Independence and Impartiality

We believe in independent, fair, and impartial journalism. Our editors and writers are held accountable to a high standard of honesty and transparency, and our original editorial content is not influenced by our advertisers. As such, we maintain a strict separation between advertising and editorial content. Any content that is provided by or on behalf of an advertiser or sponsor, is clearly labeled as such.

Fact Checking

As part of the editorial process, our writers interview relevant, qualified sources for stories, then verify all information and data included in their final stories. We strive to provide proper context and background information to help our readers. All stories are then reviewed and edited by a top editor; we assess content for grammar, accuracy, readability, and relevance. If you have noticed an issue with a specific piece of content, please bring it to our attention by emailing editors@southernliving.com

Corrections

Our editorial team is committed to producing high quality, factual content. If there is an error in a story, we will correct it as soon as possible. All corrections will be clearly labeled as such and will include what changes were made and when. When an article is factually correct, but the language is not as clear or detailed as necessary, the story may be updated without an editor's note.

Timely and daily news stories generally cover a distinct event in time, so they are not routinely updated. Our editorial team consistently reevaluates and updates evergreen content to ensure everything is timely, accurate, and relevant. The date-stamp at the top of each article reflects when it was last updated.

If you believe you have found an error, please notify us by emailing editors@southernliving.com

Recipe Development and Testing

As part of our editorial review process for food content, all recipes created for and featured on Southernliving.com are tested by the Southern Living Test Kitchen and the recipe professionals for accuracy, clarity, flavor, and feasibility for the home cook. Food Editors approve every recipe to ensure it meets our brand standards. If you see a problem with a recipe, please notify us by emailing editors@southernliving.com

Originality

Our team strives to create original, helpful, and fair content on Southernliving.com , which means our stories must be verified, properly attributed, and may not infringe the copyright or anyone's intellectual property rights. Any suggestion of plagiarism is investigated fully and is grounds for dismissal. We expect all contributors on the network to abide by all applicable laws, standards, and accepted journalistic practices including:

People Inc editors and writers, including the Southernliving.com team, are prohibited from giving preferential treatment to any outside company, publication, or website based on their relationship with the person who authors or owns that resource. Our editors and writers are also responsible for disclosing potential conflicts of interest that might compromise their ability to share fair and impartial information.

At Southern Living, we aspire to provide the highest quality content produced by humans, for humans. It is against our guidelines to publish automatically generated content using AI (artificial intelligence) writing tools such as ChatGPT.

Community Guidelines

At Southern Living , we encourage our readers to engage and share tips, feedback, and advice to help one another. We believe in fostering a sense of community, especially when it comes to cooking. We moderate every single review and comment added to a recipe. When leaving reviews, we remind you that constructive feedback is always welcome, but rude, mean, disrespectful, or spammy comments are not welcome and will not be approved.

Inclusivity Pledge

Southern Living represents the voice of the modern South. We are committed to sharing, celebrating, and amplifying all voices and multicultural stories across the region.

In recent years we have worked carefully to ensure that our stories, recipes, profiles, and photographs represent an inclusive, welcoming South. We will continue to revise, remove, edit, and update stories and language that don't reflect our values.

While we continue to focus on the stories you love, every piece we publish will be considered through the lens of inclusivity, with an emphasis on featuring the work of an array of designers, makers, creatives, chefs, experts, storytellers, and brands. We have updated our brand style guide to ensure that we are using inclusive language, and have been working to represent the holidays of more varied communities and religious groups.

Brand Partnership

In June 2022 we established a partnership with Jones Valley Teaching Farm , an organization that empowers disadvantaged youth through food education. Our goal is to support the farm with volunteer help from our staff, to introduce students to opportunities in food media (such as recipe development, photography, and food styling), and to amplify the organization's mission across our channels.

Product Reviews

How do we select the best propane grills for outdoor cooking and best best chairs for every kind of beachgoer ? All product reviews on SouthernLiving.com are independent and based on research and product testing conducted by our editors and writers. We share the products we love and that we think our readers will love, too. If you visit certain links within our content, we may receive commissions from your purchases. We never receive compensation for recommending products within our content.

Privacy Policy

We take online privacy seriously and we respect the concerns of our community of users. We may collect information, including personal information, directly from you if you choose to provide that information. In addition, when you access the Site, we and our third-party partners may automatically collect certain information about you and your visit, including personal information, using tools such as cookies, web beacons and other similar technologies. We may use the information gathered on the Site for various purposes, including responding to inquiries and to serve content and offers to you based on your interests and online activities.

Read our complete Privacy Policy .

Contact Us

Magazine Subscription

To order a subscription, visit magazines.com
For online self-service, click here
Telephone assistance: 1-800-272-4101
Email: SLVcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com
Southern Living SMS OFFERS: For assistance, please contact us at consumersupport@dotdashmdp.com or visit here for further contact details. Text STOP to opt out.

Editorial Inquiries

For questions or comments regarding an article, please email editors@southernliving.com

Advertising Inquiries

To download the Southern Living media kit, please click here .

Press Inquiries

For press queries, you can reach us at southernlivingPR@dotdashmdp.com

Brand Licensing Inquiries

For licensing inquiries, please email brandlicensing@dotdashmdp.com

Southern Living Insiders

View our Help Topics: Southern Living Help Center
Contact our Support Team: Submit a Help Request

Leadership/Ownership Structure and Funding

Southern Living is part of the People Inc. family of brands committed to creating accurate, helpful news and information that represents and serves all people. Founded in 1996, People Inc. is an operating business of IAC .

Learn more about the team behind People Inc.