Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer August 6-11

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: 

• A moment of silence for CBC in Thunder Bay [J-Source]
• AAM releases Canadian magazine stats for first half of 2014 [Masthead]
• Canadian magazine sales down 4.8% in first half of 2014 [J-Source]
• Montreal Gazette announces team for four-platform strategy [J-Source]
• How to keep community journalism strong [J-Source]
• How to prepare a pitch: Writers’ conference tips [Marie Powell] (via @PWACsask)
• 4 tips for writers to avoid the “sitting disease” [PWAC]
• Conservative MP caught on tape: “We are not making cuts to the CBC” [Press Progress]

From the U.S. and beyond:

• Harper’s publisher standing firm in his defence of print and paywall [New York Times] (via @jayrosen_nyu)
• Dashing, Starting, and Stopping: 3 Methods for Beating Procrastination [Contently]
• The Ten Commandments for Freelancers [Contently]
• When They Say Your Freelance Writing Fees Are Too Expensive [About Freelance Writing]
• How to Overcome the Odds and Find a Literary Agent [Contently]
• 5 investigative journalism tips from New York Times’ David Barstow [Poynter]
• “I can get it cheaper”: What to do when a client rejects your fee [Freelancers Union]
• In the Social Media Age, Journalists Ditch Breaking News for Longform [Contently]
• 6 Ways to Make Networking Less Awkward [Mashable]

Last week on Story Board:

• Class action suit by freelancers against the Montreal Gazette is in wrap-up stages: A class action lawsuit launched by freelancers against the Montreal Gazette is in its final stages. The lawsuit, which began to take shape in 1997 and first went to court in 2008, alleged that the Gazette had been reproducing freelancers’ work electronically for years without consent or compensation…
• Coalition lobbying for insurance subsidy for freelancers: The Canadian Media Guild has joined with a coalition of artists’ associations to lobby the federal government for funding for a program that would offer self-employed arts and cultural workers a subsidy on extended health insurance… 

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.