Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Nov 4-10

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: 

• Can you afford to be a writer? [Toronto Star] (via @twuc)
• Legacy of a Legend [RRJ] (via @timfalconer)
• CBC executive calls Ghomeshi ‘egomaniacal’ and ‘tyrannical’ [Globe & Mail]
• Toronto Star to drop paywall and launch a new ad-driven tablet like La Presse [Canadian Magazines]
• Investigative reporting brought down Jian Ghomeshi [Rabble] (via @writersdotca)
• Jonathan Kay overseeing a new version of Canada’s daily conversation [Toronto Star]
• Jesse Brown’s open letter to fellow journalists [Storify]
• The more you write, the less you make [Globe & Mail] (via @CDNWritersGroup)

From the U.S. and beyond:

• Is a Coworking Space Better for Freelancers Than Working from Home? [The Write Life]
• Molly Crabapple’s 15 rules for creative success in the Internet age [BoingBoing]
• What Should the Ideal Freelance Schedule Look Like? [The Freelancer]
• 7 Pieces of Wisdom That Will Change the Way You Work [99U]
• Ask A Freelancer: How Do I Avoid Procrastinating When Working From Home? [The Freelancer]
• The numbers behind Jill Abramson and Steven Brill’s new media venture don’t add up [GigaOM]
• How 5 Famous Freelancers Got Their First Big Breaks [The Freelancer]
• When journalists take sides, what happens to reporting facts? [Journalism.co.uk]

Last week on Story Board:

• Journalists react to Pan Am Games’ ad for unpaid feature writers: Yesterday, Toronto freelance writer Andrew Livingstone ran across a job posting seeking volunteer writers to produce features and other promotional material for the 2015 Pan Am Games. Livingstone took to Twitter to voice his outrage. His tweets ignited an angry conversation about unpaid writing…
• The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #18 — Andrew Braithwaite: In this regular feature, Story Board asks Canadian writers to share a few details about their work habits and their strategies for navigating the ups and downs of freelance life…

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.