Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer March 12–18, 2012

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:

• Margaret Atwood: Deeper into the Twungle [NYBooks.com] (via @dylan_robertson)
• ‘There is nothing called freedom’ for journalists working in ethnic media [J-Source] (via @asamur)
• Keeping up with the #Kony2012 controversy [Ryerson Review of Journalism blog]
• Want to feel smarter? Put on a lab coat [Globe & Mail] (via Luigi Benetton)
• Oops of the Week: Vancouver Sun pairs story about contaminated breast milk with photo of Queen Elizabeth [Poynter.org] [via @suzanneboles]

From the U.S. and beyond:

• Hideously diverse Britain: selling multiculturalism [Guardian.co.uk] (via @journochat)
• The Constant Gardener: My two years tending AOL’s hyperlocal experiment [Columbia Journalism Review]
• News of the world: To survive online, newspapers are seeking a worldwide audience [Economist.com]
• John R. MacArthur: Internet con men ravage publishing [Providence Journal] (via @journochat)
• Who gets it first: Twitter or the editors? [American Journalism Review]
• ‘This American Life’ retracts Mike Daisey’s Apple report [Romenesko.com]
• 20 pricing principles for freelancers [Freelance Folder]
• Coworking: A support system for collaborative consumption [GigaOM]
• People don’t respect free work, so charge them for it [Forbes.com]

From Story Board last week:

• Byliner adds fiction to its offerings—and signs Margaret Atwood: When Byliner launched last spring, it was clear that it would do great things for narrative non-fiction, alongside other new sites like The Atavist. In the intervening 10 months, the site has grown considerably and its “Byliner Originals” have consistently topped Amazon’s Kindle Singles bestseller list. Early this year it began selling short works of fiction. The first, a 43-page story called “Rules for Virgins,” came from best-selling author Amy Tan, whose last novel, Saving Fish from Drowning, was released in 2005. The most recent and notable author to sign with the site is none other than Margaret Atwood, who is no stranger to the digital world (just ask her +300,000 Twitter followers).
• Stake your claims: More tax tips for freelancers from the Born Freelancer: In my last post I talked about being a freelancer and the preparation required to pay taxes. I thought I’d covered most of the salient points pretty clearly but I’ve had a bit of feedback from some fellow freelancers asking for clarification of a couple key points. I thought that this would be the ideal opportunity to follow up on my main post and address these most significant issues.

Spot a story you think we should include in next week’s Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca.