Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, publishing, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From Canada:
- Ottawa formally petitioning for Mohamed Fahmy’s release [Toronto Star]
- Egyptian court sentences Canadian journalist Fahmy to three years in prison [Globe and Mail]
- Tips for Breaking Into Travel Writing [PWAC Toronto]
- Freelancers’ Fall Checklist [Living Freelance]
- Things You Can Do To Grow Your Business When You Only Have 10 Minutes [The Freelance Hustle]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- An expert’s forecast — Canada will have few if any print newspapers by 2025 [Poynter]
- How Freelancers Are Fighting For Their Labor Rights [Fast Company]
- When journalists write for free it hurts our democracy [The Conversation]
- Writing for Corporate Blogs: How to Get Hired as a Freelancer [The Write Life]
- NO to the Huffington Post, YES to these sites that pay writers [Alyssa Royse]
- Crowdfunded journalism site Contributoria folds [Politico]
- 10 Mistakes That’ll Ruin Your Freelancing Career [The Freelancer]
- “The rapacious Ms. Huffington seems to believe that journalism skills are worth nothing.” [Romenesko]
- Why It Benefits Freelancers to Be Inflexible [The Freelancer]
- Will Unionizing Gawker And Vice Help Freelance Writers Earn A Living Wage? [Forbes]
- The 5 Commandments of Pitching for Freelance Writing Gigs [Freelance Writers Online]
- A year after James Foley: Safety advice for conflict reporters [Journalism.co.uk]
Last week on Story Board:
- The Problem of Press Trips: Freelance writers are masters of ingenuity. We have to be. Decreasing wages and increasing demands have made full-time freelance writing a losing proposition. Those of us who wish to remain in the field quickly develop strategies to make it work: We stack assignments, boost our incomes with part-time jobs, and network like crazy…
Spot a story you think we should include in next week’s Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca or tweet us at @storyboard_ca.