The media Web site 10,000 Words is the end product of out-of-work journalist Mark S. Luckie, who after losing his job took solace in the fact that he was given the opportunity to hone his new media skills. It’s accurate to infer that his last name refers to his current occupational state.

In a recent blog post Luckie writes that being laid-off was “the best thing that ever happened” to him. He believed he was secure from lay-offs because of his skills in new media technology and his passion for the job. But even those at the top can fall.

He wrote that he took time off and became “more creative” with how to use his skills–something he believes to be a problem in the industry that reporters aren’t given the time to develop new skills, short of learning them on their own time.

The blog chronicles the state of journalism, introduces new technologies in covering and digesting news, advice for aspiring reporters and much more.

“The time away from journalism has helped me find my inspiration, to remember why I am a multimedia journalist in the first place. I’ve taken day trips to museums to see the interactive exhibits,” he wrote in his post. “I’ve attended (free) conferences to hear about not only what’s being done to revitalize journalism, but the amazing technological advances that are happening outside of the journalism bubble.”

In addition to his own experience, he writes about other journalists taking their knowledge in the field and creating their own digital newsrooms. His latest project is a book that should be released by the end of summer about his multimedia projects

He applied his life mentality to a decision he made in 2008 to leave the newsroom and pursue other opportunities in freelance work and education. He worked in local television news for 12 years ending at TV-WMAR Channel 2 in Baltimore.

“Where I was at I sort of felt like the writing was on the wall. I kind of heard through the grapevine how much they were charging for commercials…and at Channel 2 it felt like the end was near,” he said.

“If I did jump there were going to be better opportunities for me.”

Anglim juggles a series of freelance projects most notably for the University Maryland School of Medicine. He shoots documentaries and training videos, videos for the Web among other assignments. He also taught his first semester at Towson University in the spring of 2009.

“As a freelancer you have to think in terms of revenue streams and getting multiple revenue streams going because you never know when one is going to dry up,” Anglim said.

“To get to the bottom line, I’ve been extremely, very lucky with that move I made and how I’m doing… I’m on par with where I was at Channel 2.”

He mentioned the difficulty with freelance work is accounting for the weeks without work and saving money.

“If you compare day to day, the check is better but the checks may be fewer and farther between and you’re dealing with all the benefits and insurance issues and your using all of your own equipment more often than not, so it’s kind of a wash,” he said.

The longtime cameraman said he always knew he wouldn’t stay in local television. He said instead that he used that time to hone and sharpen skills that would take him beyond the newsroom. He considers his freelance work as another element of journalism.

“I’m still documenting people’s lives and capturing truth with a camera,” he said.

Anglim has won seven Regional Emmy Awards, two Regional Photographer of the Year Awards for the National Press Photographers Association, including several Associated Press Awards among others. Although he maintains that his work ethic is what drives him to work consistently at his highest level, not the accolades that he has to show for it.

By offering the collection of entrants and links to their work, comparisons and trends can be pinpointed to enhance the understanding of what makes a superb story work.

A commonality among the entries are the combined uses of stills, audio, video, text and interactivity. It’s interesting to see how each use is best utilized. Take for example the story “Black Market” hosted by Media Storm. The still photographs are black and white to represent the severity and seriousness of story about illegal animal trade overseas. As the photographer narrates his story via answers to interview questions there a scenes of him on camera talking about his work. It’s brilliant. Instead of the solely using the sound of his somber voice to tell the story, his facial expressions add to the seriousness. In between segments of the story there are snippets of digital print that introduce the next chapter. For a 10-minute video they are the transitions that would be used in a traditional print story. And there’s the rub.

It’s a realization that is so striking that it excites me.

Boil down the basics of multimedia before putting them on the Web: print, audio, photo and video. Each skill is essentially a different type of paragraph in a news story. Short sentences for transitions, photos for the sake of imagery and tone, audio to tell the story in chunks and video to connect with the audience so as not to become detached.

To be able to tell a story this way is liberating to a young journalist. Calling these types of stories a “slideshow” is almost insulting because they are much more than that. Not one medium alone could do justice to the story of the “Black Market,” short of a filmed documentary.

For Jennifer West, that was the day her dog died–the same day she was told that her tenure in journalism was over. West was bought out of her contract at FT.com, a finance and economic news site based out of the UK. When her boss delivered the news West says she only remembers hearing the word “recession” over and over again in her mind. The news was so devastating that the 20-year newswoman, then 41, spent entire days lying in the fetal position in bed.

Little did she know it would only get worse.

At the one-year mark of her unemployment West summoned the courage to begin applying for jobs again, amid scores of 20-somethings vying the same positions. “They ask everywhere for one to three years experience. What happened to 20? Nobody wants that.” she said in an interview with the Huffington Post. And then the market took a screeching nose dive. It was then that she retuned to school to pursue and MA in education, a decision she made with the help of friends and family.

She has a mounting $50,000 loan debt, but is happy with her decision. She never wants to return to a newsroom again.

West is dissimilar to a number of journalists who still want to hold onto some aspects of the careers and reporters. An increasing trend is the number journalists who leave the newsroom for a classroom, imparting their knowledge of the field to students and not editors. West became so disillusioned with the industry that she said, “I refuse to work in journalism ever again. It’s turned its back on me.”

Having been at the front lines of college news for four years, I’ve endured the hurricane of emotions and intellectual challenges that come with covering everything from a triple murder/suicide to the election of the President. I’ve employed the use of audio soundbites, photos, words and video to tell stories sometimes all at once, but it seems there is so much more explore.

I liken it to standing at the peak of a mountain climbed, only to look out and see a valley of uncharted territory and more mountains. I am a blend of the traditional and new age journalist.

In chapter two of “Journalism Online, ” heralded as “the best guide to getting started in online journalism” author Mike Ward stresses the basic fundamentals of journalism, something I believe is being forgotten by many young J-school students.  It’s illuminating that so early in the textbook Ward covers the basics of a good news story and a hounding news sense. Sure, your average college freshmen can blog and tweet, but I beg the question: can they interview high-ranking government officials with professionalism and ask them a difficult question? Do they know whether to use their recorder or pen and notebook when covering a specific story? And can they do those things, plus dozens of other tasks at the same time, everyday to the degree of discipline required for a professional setting? I’m almost there with that regard.

Conversely, journalism guru Mindy McAdams of “Teach Journalism Online” fame, gives me a headache with her bounding insight. He post, “The Essentials of a Multimedia Story Package,” though written in briefs is so thorough that it makes me question my own abilities and how much further we (I) have to go.  Every square inch of a Web page is important and has to correlate to every link in consistent fashion. Every word used has to be written to entice the Web surfer to click further. It’s a far cry from inverted pyramid style and active voice with some flashy pictures in tow.

I like both reads because they stress the basics and essentials, but when combined simply state that the modern reporter has to use both sides of the brain. Not to mention the fact that I like a challenge.

Unlike many journalists, he has worked in the same place his entire professional career, starting out as a college intern and advancing to the head of the newsroom decades later. Unlike street reporters who are facing buy-outs and lay-offs, he’s on the other side of the mounting fence we’ve come to call the recession.

He’s seen the industry grow from when radio, print and television all produced stories for their respective platforms to today when the varying mediums have begun to adapt and embrace the Web and different styles of storytelling. He remembers growing up watching broadcast news on “rabbit ears” and “a whopping six channels.”

“I think people can adapt…The people who are in radio now basically I think are in radio because they have a real passion for it,” Miller said.

The WBAL newsroom houses less than ten reporters, all seasoned veterans in the broadcast field, who a knowledgeable in a variety of new media skills that blend print, broadcast and Web work together.

“We never had a crew of a photographer and editor to back us up. We’ve always had to do everything ourselves,” Miller said. “People who do learn [new media skills], I think, are reenergized by it.”

Miller admits an issue across the board for today’s news is not enough on-the-job training in these new fields; though he doesn’t necessarily consider it bad thing.

“It builds camaraderie and teamwork but I can tell you what is old. I have reporters in my newsroom who are 40 and they’re great with the technology. A lot of  it depends on the individual and where they are in their career and how willing they are to learn it,” he said.

For people who left the industry for whatever reason Miller speculated that many take up positions in public relations. But for people who do believe in the importance of journalism and want to stay in the industry he offers this advice, “If you’re entrepreneurial and you have the skills and you make the right connections you can sort of carve out a little niche for yourself on radio, on television and certainly in the Internet world in the blogosphere.”

Many working journalists (among millions of the work class) are disheartened with the “transitioning” platforms of media (and a ravaging recession). We say transitioning as a way of putting a positive spin on the death of newspapers and traditional media as they are dumped into a blender and poured out on the Internet with little revenue to extract. That’s why a positive attitude goes a long way. A Google search of “life after journalism” yields an interesting post from 2007 by Mark Potts who maintains a blog titled “Recovering Journalist.” The post, aptly titled “Life After Journalism,” serves as morale boost for recently ousted reporters, citing the skills gained in newsroom are often valued higher in other fields.

Though only speculation of a recession was prevalent in 2007 (when Potts posted his advice), his words are comforting to this very day. Many older, or rather, veteran journalists may be facing buy-outs and lay-offs but their experience is invaluable elsewhere. Which for young college students attempting (read: bracing) to enter the news field can be a good thing. News media will be lead by more tech-savvy reporters fresh out of the gate. Albeit a little selfish to think that way, a great reporter can do almost anything, according Potts’s post.

Also mentioned in the blog’s sidebar is a link for the top 10 things to do for a suddenly unemployed reporter, as an added bonus.

He currently freelances in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area at three different venues. This week, I spoke with Mr. Matthews regarding the cause of his unemployment and the nature of his freelance work. 

He is perhaps one of the most over-qualified people in the industry. He provides his perspective on the current ominous state of journalism and his hopes for the future. In this candid interview, he also gives some advice for aspiring reporters, such as myself. In addition to his freelance work, he maintains a blog called “Life on the Beach” where he posts his views on the state of journalism and his life outside of the newsroom.

He’s a basic storyteller, not particularly innovative or over-intelligent, in fact most of his stories from the acclaimed “This American Life” are told solely by the characters he interviews.

That being said, an aspiring reporter, journalists or storyteller would be wise to follow his lead. After watching a brief four-part series on storytelling, instructed by Glass, it’s no wonder he’s reached millions of viewers and subscribers to his program.

One of his most notable pearls of wisdom is something that should be ingrained in a reporter’s work habits well beyond a newsroom: set deadlines for yourself. Telling a good story requires more than just a laptop, phone and source. The culminating factors of a solid story are vast, for instance, researching, setting appointments, interviewing and planning ahead. Setting deadlines for these tasks is crucial for the final product.

One of the more surprising things he mentions, and it’s only surprising because it’s common sense that most people don’t realize, is to abandon a bad idea. Storytellers will often hit roadblocks—obviously—but instead of taking time to repair the road the author should find a new route. A new direction can open eyes to new landscapes and possibilities.

Another common theme most overlook in story deliverance is the importance of being true to one’s self. Glass is predominantly a broadcaster, but he doesn’t have the powerful reporter voice or delivery some of the major players have. To a degree he practically embraces his “nerdiness” and focuses on the words he uses rather than how they are said. A good example I can liken it to is that many reporters will cover a tragedy at one point during their tenure, albeit a murder or natural disaster. You’ll find that many of those reporters will wear the same sad face and speak in a solemn tone, which will not separate them from the pack. The best thing to do, is speak and write from the soul.

It’s refreshing to hear someone like Glass speaking so passionately about storytelling and someone interested in the craft should heed his words.

For fans of “This American Life” in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area Glass will be hosting “An Evening with Ira Glass” Saturday October 10 at 8 p.m. at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Tickets can purchased from the WYPR Web site or by calling 410-735-1618.

While most people look forward to the summer season for the nice weather or vacations, Sun staffers dread them for fear of another round of lay-offs.

During his tenure since July 2001 to a month ago, the newsroom went from 400 reporters to about 140, he said.

“It felt sickening to watch this exodus of very talented people,” Kiehl said. “I didn’t want to go through that summer every year…it was just too painful.”

Kiehl began applying to law schools in the fall, several months before his lay-off. He believes his critical thinking, research and questioning skills that he developed as a professional journalist will help him with his goal of becoming a law man.

He is able to riddle off a list of friends and former colleagues who left the newsroom to find work outside of journalism. An interesting correlation he mentioned was that reporters would find work in the fields they covered for The Sun. For example, Tom Pelton wrote about environmental issues and now subsequently works for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.