Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Jan 14-20
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- Merger of 2 groups of independents gives birth to Canadian Freelance Guild [CWA Canada]
- From the Front Lines: How to make Twitter work for you [The Writer]
- 2020 Writing Contests You Should Consider Entering [Freelance Writing Jobs]
- Why you must market yourself as a freelancer [Blog Lovin’]
- Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: Which is Better for Freelancers? [Freelance Writing Jobs]
- To Guide the Labor Movement’s Future She Looks to its Past [New York Times]
Recently on Story Board:
- New Association Formed to Represent Canadian Media and Communications Professionals: The membership of the Professional Writers Association of Canada has resoundingly voted to amalgamate with the independent membership of the Canadian Media Guild Freelance Branch to form the Canadian Freelance Guild…
- Questions to help you reflect and plan for 2020: There are all sorts of positive reasons to spend time reflecting on your business, asking questions and planning. Things like reducing anxiety, improving clarity and encouraging creativity. But making the time to work on your business instead of in your business? Sometimes more difficult than it seems…
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.
New Association Formed to Represent Canadian Media and Communications Professionals
January 16th, 2020
The membership of the Professional Writers Association of Canada has resoundingly voted to amalgamate with the independent membership of the Canadian Media Guild Freelance Branch to form the Canadian Freelance Guild.
This new association, totalling close to 400 members, will be founded within CWA Canada, the oldest and only all-media union in Canada.
“I’m very grateful to see that we had an excellent turnout for this special vote. Voting was represented equally by and new and seasoned members alike, who realized that we have made the right decision to move PWAC forward into its next realm of existence,” said Doreen Pendgracs, president of PWAC.
Don Genova, president of the independent membership of CMG Freelance, said, “We’ve worked to bring these like-minded associations together for the past three years and I’m sure this amalgamation will bring a greater voice to freelancers in Canada as we battle falling rates and unfair contracts for members who provide their clients high-quality contributions in all forms of today’s varied media.”
When officially constituted in April of this year, members of the Canadian Freelance Guild will include professional writers, photographers, podcasters, videographers, graphic designers, and more. Media workers who freelance at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will continue to be represented by the Canadian Media Guild, a local of CWA Canada.
Pendgracs and Genova said their main goals are to provide a higher level of professional development, networking, advocacy, and representation for members when negotiating and enforcing contracts with employers.
Representatives of CMG Freelance and PWAC will meet next month in Toronto to begin the work of creating a governance structure, merging the memberships, and amalgamating their various databases and digital assets.
In the meantime, current members of both associations will continue to be represented by their respective executives and administration. For questions about the new association please contact Don or Doreen directly.
Don Genova
President, CMG Freelance
freelance@cmg.ca
778-991-4439 (Pacific Time)
Doreen Pendgracs
President, PWAC
president@pwac.ca
204-481-2399 (Central Time)
The Canadian Freelance Guild: Representing Independent Media and Communications Professionals in Canada.
Questions to help you reflect and plan for 2020
by Robyn Roste
There are all sorts of positive reasons to spend time reflecting on your business, asking questions and planning.
Things like reducing anxiety, improving clarity and encouraging creativity. But making the time to work on your business instead of in your business? Sometimes more difficult than it seems.
A while back I purchased a self-paced digital course and one of the first tasks was to film a three-minute video outlining things like why I was taking the course, where I was at in my freelance business and tasks I was struggling with.
My first instinct was to skip the video and jump into the actual coursework but I did end up quickly recording something and moving on.
The other day I was cleaning up some digital files and ran across the video so I stopped and watched it. Even though I felt like I hadn’t made as much progress as I had wanted to from the course, once I saw the video I realized I have come a long way. I felt encouraged and motivated to keep going—things I wouldn’t have felt if I hadn’t taken those three minutes to talk about where I was at and where I wanted to go.
If this seems like the kind of thing your freelance business could benefit from, here are some prompts to help you reflect and plan.
Read the rest of this post »
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Jan 7-13
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- How to do solutions journalism in a time crunch [Journalism.co.uk]
- Lessons for Freelance Writers [The Writer]
- 20 Powerful Tips to Get New Freelance Clients On Board [Freelance Writing Jobs]
- These profile mistakes could cost you the gig [Freelancers Union]
- Set Your Goals For The New Year [Freelance Hustle]
- A quick guide to finding your freelance niche in 2020 [Freelancers Union]
- Obey These 7 Natural Laws of Freelancing to Make Money Writing [Make a Living Writing]
- Power, precarity and white-hot anger: what I learned in a decade in journalism [The Guardian]
Recently on Story Board:
- Vancouver freelancer winter social night January 28: Join us on Tuesday, January 28 at the Red Racer Taphouse (871 Beatty St.) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for a drink, some snacks, and a little freelancer camaraderie…
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.
Vancouver freelancer winter social night January 28
Happy New Year, freelancers! We’re celebrating 2020 with a social evening for freelancers in the Vancouver area.
Join us on Tuesday, January 28 at the Red Racer Taphouse (871 Beatty St.) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for a drink, some snacks, and a little freelancer camaraderie.
Have you set some freelance goals for the new year? Come and hash them out with freelance colleagues. And CMG Freelance president Don Genova will be on hand to advise you on everything from pitching, to contracts, to setting your rates.
Drop Don a line at freelance@cmg.ca and let us know if you can join us. Hope to see you there!
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Dec 24-Jan 6
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- Flabby writing? Try these 7 tips for toning and trimming text [PR Daily]
- Tip: How to network at events [Journalism.co.uk]
- New year, old fear: What scares you most as a writer? [The Writer]
- New Year’s resolutions for writers [The Writer]
- Your Next Big Book Idea: How to Figure Out Topics to Write About [The Write Life]
- Do we really need to talk so much about the future of work? [Freelancers Union]
- These tips will make you a better writer [Poynter]
- Top European destinations for freelancers [Freelancers Union]
- 7 tips for non-Native journalists covering Indigenous communities [IJNet]
Recently on Story Board:
- The Born Freelancer on Preparing Your Creative Estate: If you passed away tomorrow would your estate know what to do with your work archives? For the vast majority of freelancers, I would posit the answer is a resounding “no”…
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.
The Born Freelancer on Preparing Your Creative Estate
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
As an old year ends and a new one begins, my thoughts are alternately joyful and ever-so-slightly melancholic.
Joyful, in that the new year promises new hope and a new start, drawing a line under last year’s shortcomings and failures.
Melancholic, in that it is a time to remember plans unfulfilled and also those who have passed.
For purposes of this post, my mind turns to the passing of a colleague with whom I had collaborated on a number of scripts many, many years earlier.
His family called and wanted help in assessing his work archives.
I went over and to my horror found a lifetime’s work in a complete jumble. Files were uncategorized and haphazard, boxes of written materials unsorted and unlabeled, hard drives locked down by unknown passwords and inaccessible.
Attempting to help prioritize and organize such monumental chaos proved beyond my abilities, aside from a superficial tidying up and pointing out of the obvious. (The week of his death he had finally appeared in a favourite national publication. His payment lay amongst the unopened mail on his home office desk.)
The experience shook me up, but more importantly, it forced me to confront the question I am asking you today: If you passed away tomorrow would your estate know what to do with your work archives?
For the vast majority of freelancers, I would posit the answer is a resounding “no”.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Dec 17-23
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- National Observer Staff File To Unionize with CMG / CWA Canada [CWA Canada]
- Judge says mischief charge against journalist who covered Muskrat Falls protest can proceed [Globe and Mail]
- Improve your craft by teaching writing [The Writer Magazine]
- I Lost My Life to Airbnb [Narratively]
- Independent Writers Sue California to Protect Rights of Freelancers [ASJA]
- Say What? A Non-Scientific Comparison of Automated Transcription Services [Open Notebook]
- How To Network As a Journalist When You Really, Really Hate It [Journo Resources]
- Networking for introverts [The Writer Magazine]
Recently on Story Board:
- Taking time off when you’re a freelancer: Rest is necessary to fuel creativity and avoid burnout. So how does a freelancer take breaks without losing money, clients or opportunities? Here are a few ideas…
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.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Dec 10-16
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- 3 ways for freelancers to set the stage for a fantastic 2020 [Freelancers Union]
- The Great White Nope [Longreads]
- Stop saying local news is dying [Poynter]
- How Remote Workers Make Work Friends [HBR]
- How To Make The Most Of Your Holidays [Freelance Hustle]
- How to migrate your website and keep your SEO rankings [Freelancers Union]
- Tip: Tweetdeck for student journalists [Journalism.co.uk]
- CMG elections 2019 — The final results are in! [CMG]
- The Rise of the Freelance Journalists Union [Seattle IWW]
Recently on Story Board:
- Doc Mentorship Program deadline January 6: CBC Radio has a winter round of mentorships available this year. Experienced audio freelancers are invited to submit a pitch to the program, which is also open to all CBC employees – staff, contract and temps…
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.
Doc Mentorship Program deadline January 6
Experienced audio freelancers are invited to submit a pitch to the program, which is also open to all CBC employees – staff, contract and temps.
The program pairs up documentary makers with experienced CBC producers who provide guidance and mentorship through the process of making a radio documentary. Mentors are happy to provide feedback on pitches before the formal application process, so applicants are advised to contact the mentor they wish to work with before they apply.
Not all of the usual mentors are able to participate this time around, but the program is accepting applications to The Doc Project, The Sunday Edition and Now Or Never as well as the Emerging Indigenous Doc Maker Program.
Production on all documentaries that are accepted to the program must be completed by March 31st, 2020.
If your pitch is accepted to the Doc Mentorship Program, you’re advised to make sure you negotiate a contract up front before they start working on their project. If you need help with this process, you can contact CMG Freelance president Don Genova.
“There are typically two types of contracts used when the CBC commissions a documentary,” says Genova. “A Freelance Contributor contract pays at least the minimum rate based on number of minutes in the doc based on rates in the CBC-Canadian Media Guild collective agreement. For example, a 20 to 30 minute doc pays a minimum of $2817.03. The freelancer retains copyright in the documentary.”
With the other contract, Freelance Specific Services, the pay rate is supposed to be based on the same amount an employee would make if they were doing similar work.
“That amount takes a bit more figuring out, and the contract also calls for the freelancer to give up their copyright and all other rights in the documentary,” says Genova.
For more information on rates and contracts, check out this page on the CMG Freelance website. If you have any questions you can also contact CMG Freelance Branch president Don Genova at freelance@cmg.ca.
You can find more details about the Doc Mentorship Program and how to apply, on the Doc Makers website. And if you have any questions about applying to the program, you can contact CBC producer Joan Melanson.
