Skyler Henry: The big jump to Baltimore
By Avery Braxton
If you turn your television to WMAR-2 News in Baltimore, Maryland on any given day you may see Skyler Henry operating in a number of capacities. On weekdays, he is a reporter for WMAR-2 News, covering everything from crime and politics to powerful human interest stories. On the weekends, he anchors, giving Marylanders the most important news in their community from the station alongside co-anchor Mallory Sofastaii.
Henry, 27, hails from Stone Mountain, Georgia. He is smart, dedicated to his profession and community, and, perhaps most importantly, driven.
Henry’s journey to Baltimore began at Georgia Southern University. Curiously, it did not begin with journalism.
“Initially the goal was being a civil engineer,” Henry said.
After taking classes and venturing into the field, he decided that engineering was not quite for him. He changed his major and ventured into communication arts where he familiarized himself with many phases of communication.
“I think at school it kind of opened my eyes that this was something I really wanted to do,” Henry said. “Not necessarily television news, but I knew I wanted to be in media. Throughout college I was huge into radio.”
Tapping into his natural ambition, Henry made it his mission to understand the ins and outs of the different forms of media.
“I began trying to just get my hands dirty as far as making sure that I understood every aspect of media whether it be print, digital, radio television. I wanted to make sure that I knew how to do it all,” Henry said.
Henry graduated in the fall of 2011 from Georgia Southern, finishing in just three years. He appreciated his time there because he felt like family and not a statistic. It also helped him garner his first opportunity in media.
The day before Henry graduated, he got a call from Clear Channel, now known as iHeartRadio, for an opportunity to intern in Los Angeles.
“I was like ‘uh, yeah,’” Henry said laughingly. “By the grace of God and some family friends I was able to sleep on a couch for four or five months.”
Henry admitted that his time in California was rough. He was not being paid and lived off of money he saved from graduation and working in college. He said the networking and wealth of experience he gained was well worth it.
When his internship was over, he returned to Georgia. Eventually, a family friend helped him earn a position at WSB-TV in Atlanta. Henry worked behind the scenes. He did everything in the newsroom — run scripts, operate teleprompters, design sets, direct and eventually some producing.
“You get an appreciation for news when you go that route as opposed to just being on-air,” Henry said. “You understand what it takes to make the on-air people look good.”
It was on his off days that Henry began taking steps to be a reporter. He came to the station on days he was not working and shadowed reporters.
“What that was, was me driving my beat up Chevy Cavalier to news scenes and watching the reporters get man on the street soundbites, or talking to officials, and watch how they log tape, and do their standups and everything else,” Henry said. “I began to really learn the process.”
After a period of doing that and getting feedback from reporters, Henry put together his first demo newsreel. He shopped it around to news stations all over the country in places like San Luis Obispo, California, Tallahasse, Florida, Jackson, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky. He said he spoke his first full-time reporter position into fruition.
“Lo and behold, 30 days after I sent out my first reel I was signing a contract to work at 41NBC down in Macon,” Henry said.
Henry started at 41NBC in April of 2013. He said one of the biggest challenges he faced and most important things he learned was time management and understanding his stories.
He worked to understand that everyday he needed to know who he was supposed to talk to, where he was going and what he needed to wear.
“You don’t want to have on a suit and dress shoes if it’s a hurricane outside. I’ve been there, I’ve done it and I’ve ruined several pairs of shoes because of it,” Henry said.
Henry developed a skillset of reporting, editing, and writing quickly and efficiently while at 41NBC, but said one of the greatest things he began learning was his responsibility to his community.
“They want to know the good, the bad, the ugly and what can be done to fix things,” Henry said. “They hold you accountable to get the stories right.”
Henry spent three and a half years in Macon working as a reporter and eventually earning a position on the anchor desk. One of the projects he is most proud of there was “Middle Georgia Cold Cases” brand that he built.
Henry started working with law enforcement to bring light to crime cases that were unresolved. His coverage encouraged people with possible tips to reach out to police. He eventually brought a similar segment to Baltimore.
“There were a lot of loved ones out there that felt like their stories were forgotten about,” Henry said. “I think we did some real good with that.”
In 2016, after getting an agent and participating in networking opportunities and skillbuilding at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference, Henry found himself in front of one of the anchors from WMAR-2 who told him about their open position.
“I came in for an interview and I found out I had the job in two days,” Henry said.
Henry came in as a reporter and later earned his spot as the weekend anchor. He started another special program called “Baltimore: Through Their Eyes” that focused on telling unique stories from the perspective of residents in rough parts of the city. He submitted the project for an Emmy Award and is waiting to see the results.
Even though he has had great success in Baltimore he said the learning curve was tough. In Baltimore he was expected to work in a much faster news pace.
“There are things that would lead a newscast in Macon that would be at the end of a broadcast in Baltimore,” Henry said.
Ultimately, the work is all the same to Henry. He has enjoyed the adjustment and said his favorite part of his job is still meeting and talking to new people.
Henry does not take his situation for granted and recognizes that much of his success is attributed to his hard work or “grind,” but also meeting the right people at the right time. He said if he had to talk to his younger self he would tell him to trust the process.
“I would tell myself to just be patient,” Henry said. “I’m one of those guys where I like things to happen immediately, but sometime the dust has to settle before those things can happen.”
Henry said if students and early career journalists want to be like him, they should follow three things.
“Don’t be afraid to do everything. Don’t be afraid to do things without a paycheck or making low money and put your best foot forward. If you are excellent somebody will see it and all it takes is one person to change your life,” he said.
