Around Portland and the state, hyperlocal news sites, blogs, and other fledgling news efforts are popping up to take over where traditional media outlets have left off.

That’s the message that came through from journalists – including me – who discussed about the local media scene on this morning’s installment, Rebirth of Local Journalism, on Think Outloud, Oregon Public Broadcasting’s morning public affairs show.

In case you missed it, here’s a stream of the complete, 60 minute broadcast. Yours truly comes on at about minute 37 (give or take a minute or two).

Bottom line: you don’t need a degree to get work as a writer.

Even if you have no professional journalism experience, j-school isn’t the only answer.

I’ve been there. In college I was editor of the student newspaper but my degree was in English literature, so I went to journalism grad school because I thought I needed “real” training. After a year, I realized a masters in journalism was for people who had absolutely no previous experience writing or wanted to be an academic.

I was neither – and struggling to support myself. So after a year I quit and got a job at as a trade magazine writer and editor (there was a recession, entry-level newspaper jobs were non-existent). Many years later, after I’d worked as a weekly and then daily newspaper reporter and then as a freelance writer, I went back to grad school – as the professor. I taught online newswriting to grad students. My only qualifications were those years I’d spent practicing the craft.

So if you’re contemplating going back to school to give your writing career a kick in the pants, there are other ways:

If you’re already writing, stick with it. Find some regular gigs – it is possible in this economy. If you have very little experience, you may need to start small and work your way up – and in these days of Craigslist writing jobs and Web content producers, there are lots of opportunities for starting small.

Blog. There’s no substitute for writing day in and day out. If you don’t want to maintain your own blog, find one on a subject you’re interested in and pitch a few blog posts. I don’t ordinarily advocate writing for free, but if you’re just starting out, you’ve gotta prove to somebody you can do the work – but then move on. And if you’re already established, hunt for paid gigs, they’re out there.

If you’re worried about your skills being out of date, there’s an abundance of non-degree track classes on using multimedia in journalism you can take online or in person. Organizations like the Knight Digital Media Center and News University offer scholarships or cover part of the expense. Take lots of them, and while you’re at it, do a lot of networking so you meet people who could potentially open doors for you.

Find someone with the job you’d like to have some day. Follow them on Twitter. Invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn. If they live in the same town you do, invite them to lunch. Ask them to mentor you. Don’t become a stalker. Do soak up as much knowledge as they’re willing to impart – then when you’ve got your writing business up and running pay it forward to some other acolyte.

Yes, getting a master’s degree could give you some official validation in the profession, and not having that might bug you in some deep down part of your being, a lot like the way that it still bothers me. But you don’t need it. Just go do it.

It’s times like these I’m proud to be a reporter. I don’t work in a newsroom and haven’t for years. But I’m still a news person at heart. I’m proud of my profession and the work it produces. It’s been a rough year for reporters. Newsrooms jobs are disappearing faster than melting winter snow. Ad revenue has taken a nose dive. The ownership of some of the country’s biggest, most prestigious papers has changed hands – the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times – and nobody really knows what will happen because of it. This year’s Pulitzers show that, despite it all, newspapers continue to produce thought-provoking, important work, that they still play an important role in our society and in our lives.

A confession. In years past, the first Monday in April, the day the Pulitzer awards are announced, hasn’t been a good one for me. As I read stories about former colleagues such as James Grimaldi, Tracy Weber and Michele Nicolosi who earned Pulitzers for their accomplishments, it drove home the reality of the career path I’ve chosen as an independent writer. Freelancing has given me many things, including the flexibility to be my own boss, work where and when I want on projects of my own choosing, and more than anything, allowed me to have a family and a career on my own terms. I don’t regret my decision. But there’s been that twinge, that little “If only…,” that curiosity about what could have been if I’d chosen differently.

As the newsrooms of yesterday disintegrate, the time is approaching when many other former staff writers could join the freelance world. Some already have, and used the opportunity to start blogs or online news organizations to pursue good old-fashioned investigative journalism, the kind recognized by Pulitzers and journalism’s other honors. As I watch this unfold, I am excited for what it could mean for the future of the profession and the future of online news.

So today I am not sad, I am proud. Proud to call myself a reporter.