Southern elite journalist was crying? (8)
I believe the answer is:
screamed
'was crying?' is the definition.
'southern elite journalist' is the wordplay.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'elite' becomes 'cream' (cream is a kind of elite).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
's'+'cream'+'ed'='SCREAMED'
(Other definitions for screamed that I've seen before include "Uttered loud cries" , "9 [HOLLERED]" , "Uttered a loud, high-pitched cry" , "Cried out in a loud high-pitched voice" , "Uttered a sudden high-pitched cry" .)