With the economy in serious trouble, automakers and financial institutions are seeking a government bailout. And the banks and financial folks got one to the tune of $700 billion. Well, The New York Times recently reported that Six Apart, the maker of Moveable Type blogs called TypePad, has created a bailout program of their own: “The Journalist Bailout Program.” (Spoiler alert—they interviewed me!)

The new initiative is designed to help journalists who recently lost their jobs get back on their feet. Once accepted into the program, Six Apart will give 20 to 30 individuals a TypePad pro blog with full technical support (worth about $150 a year), inclusion in its advertising program (which is an opportunity to earn money) and his or her blog featured on Blogs.com, a blog aggregator site. Six Apart’s Moveable Type software and platform is used by some great sites like Barack Obama’s campaign site, The Washington Post, and NPR—just to name a few. This is a huge gesture and generous offering for struggling journalists who may need both financial and technical help to start blogging.

About a week or so ago, I saw a Tweet about the program. (I’m a bigger Twitter user and advocate.) So, I immediately clicked on the link and saw blogger and Six Apart vice president, Anil Dash’s, blog post about the opportunity.

Dash wrote: “Hello, recently-laid-off or fearful-of-layoffs journalist! We’re Six Apart (you know us as the nice folks who make Movable Type or TypePad, which maybe you used for blogging at your old newspaper or magazine) and we want to help you.”

I read Dash’s invitation and thought the program was perfect for me. Although I haven’t been laid-off, I’m concerned about the availability of jobs for myself, fellow journalists and graduating students. And as I said in the New York Times article, this program is perfect for journalists who now have to build their careers more guerrilla-style by constantly selling their stories and promoting their work. I viewed the “bailout program” as an opportunity to increase the visibility of my stories and the chance to earn some revenue from my work. I’m hoping to take my site, CaramelBella.com, and another online site in the works to the next level.

The media industry is changing to a world where journalists have to be entrepreneurs and good marketers, as well as great writers. Writers who are solely depending on writing and hoping for success, are doing themselves a great disservice. We need to be writing and promoting. Journalists can’t afford (literally) to be quiet wallflowers.

And I know for many journalists, the current state of the industry is discouraging and depressing. Lately, the future of journalism is all we talk about in class and in the real world. Yet despite the seemingly bad news and continuous layoff reports, I’m optimistic about the possibilities and opportunities. Yes, there are less “traditional” jobs with big media organizations, but there are new opportunities being created, especially online, even as I type.  And I’m jazzed about that.