Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer May 29-June 4

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?

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From Canada: 

From The U.S. and beyond:

Recently on Story Board:

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.

Posted on June 4, 2018 at 6:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,

Systematic Editing for the Uncomfortable / Nervous / Reluctant / Insecure Editor

by Amanda Maxwell 

Editing a piece of work isn’t my favourite occupation. If it’s my own, then word blindness and over-familiarity settles in. If it’s for someone else, then I panic about changing their voice.

Most of the time I sort-of know when something’s not right, but not always how to fix it. And this hasn’t changed much; editing courses usually leave me confused and demoralized so I’ve avoided them. At the risk of annoying all the writing instructors I’ve taken classes from, I admit I’m still reading aloud and switching to Comic Sans as my basic only method.

Unlike a carefully crafted narrative, my editing approach has no beginning, middle or end as I dot between lines, paragraphs and pages

However, my approach is slowly changing.

I recently took an all-day Eight-Step Editing workshop with my local chapter of Editors Canada. As well as nudging me into a systematic approach for editing both my own and workplace documents, I was surprised to also pick up some useful writing tips.

Editors Canada has run the Eight-Step Editing workshops since 1985 alongside its full certification programs. Describing Eight-Step Editing as “breaking down the editorial process into a series of tasks,” the organization promotes the workshops to three audiences:

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Posted on May 29, 2018 at 10:00 pm by editor · One Comment · Tagged with: , ,

Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer May 23-28

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?

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From Canada: 

From The U.S. and beyond:

Recently on Story Board:

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.

Posted on May 28, 2018 at 6:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,

2018 Portenier Human Rights Bursary competition open for applications

2015 Portenier winner Jason O’Hara, a Toronto-based documentary filmmaker

Applications are now open for the 2018 Portenier Human Rights Bursary competition. Freelance journalists and independent documentary makers working on projects that focus on human rights abuses can apply for the bursary, which provides the winner with $3000 to attend hostile environment training.

The bursary is offered by the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma, which also offers a number of training bursaries each year through the Forum Freelance Fund.

The application deadline is June 15th. Winners will be notified by July 31st and must choose a course from the list of approved course providers by September 30th. Applicants may be of any nationality. Approved courses are currently available in Canada, the USA, Britain, Afghanistan and sometimes elsewhere.

For more information on how to apply, see the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma’s website.

The Born Freelancer Asks: Are We Notoriously Lazy?

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.

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The accusation took me completely by surprise.

I was once in casual discussions with an industry insider about the conditions under which we might work together on a number of future projects — me as a writer and he in a non-creative administrative capacity.

As the informal negotiations went back and forth it occurred to me his proposed management style was extremely obsessive. When I gently pointed out that he was proposing, in fact, to micromanage the entire writing process (something I would argue best left to writers to sort out amongst ourselves) he readily agreed.

Looking at me with complete sincerity and without a trace of humour he added, “Well, of course I have to micromanage you. You freelance writers are notoriously lazy”.

He then smiled good-naturedly as if he had expressed some fundamental human truth and went on to other issues – but I couldn’t let it pass. It was as if he had punched me in the stomach. What had lead him to such a stereotypically negative view of our craft? Surely someone in his exalted position should have had a far better understanding of us and what we do?
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Posted on May 23, 2018 at 7:00 pm by editor · One Comment · Tagged with: , , ,

CMG Freelance mixer in Toronto on Friday May 25

Hey Toronto freelancers, CMG Freelance executive members and delegates from across the country are convening in Toronto later this week to take part in the Canadian Media Guild’s national biennial convention — and we’d love to meet you while we’re in town.

CMG Freelance members and non-members are all invited to an informal, happy hour get-together. Come and join us for a drink at the Matisse Restaurant and Bar at the Marriott Bloor Yorkville (90 Bloor St. E.) this Friday, May 25 between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.

It’ll be a chance to meet fellow freelancers for some socializing and networking. And if there are issues that concern you as an independent worker, we’d like to hear about them, too. The CMG’s biennial convention is our chance to set our branch’s goals and priorities for the year ahead. If you work as a freelancer we’d like to hear your perspective.

When you get to the bar, just look for the CMG Freelance banner and CMG Freelance president Don Genova (both pictured above). Hope to see you there!

 

Posted on May 22, 2018 at 1:52 pm by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , ,

Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer May 15-22

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?

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From Canada: 

From The U.S. and beyond:

Recently on Story Board:

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.

Posted on May 22, 2018 at 6:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,

Freelancers gearing up for 2018 CMG convention

CMG Freelance is gearing up to take part in the Canadian Media Guild’s 2018 biennial convention on May 25, 26 and 27 in Toronto. Every two years a large group of CMG members meets at the convention to discuss the needs and priorities of the union.

Freelance branch members who’ll attend this year’s convention include the branch’s executive: Paolo Pietropaolo, Alison Motluk, George Butters, Scott Edmonds, JP Davidson and branch president Don Genova. Also, CMG Freelance members Leanne Allen, Trevor Beckerson, Shauna Rae, Sharon Riley, and Gerry Whelan were elected by the membership to attend the convention as delegates. In addition to the delegates and the executive, Story Board editor Rachel Sanders will attend the convention as an observer.

We’ll be participating in the union’s plenary sessions, but we’ll also have a chance to spend time together as a group discussing various campaigns that CMG Freelance is working on. We’ll also be setting our goals and priorities for the year ahead.

And we’d like to hear from our members and other Canadian freelancers on this: what do you think we should be discussing during this convention? From advocacy campaigns to creating and improving services for our members, what priorities should we pursue over the next few months? What are the most important concerns that you have as an independent worker?

Leave us a note in the comments section below or email us at freelance@cmg.ca. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

CMG Freelance is the freelance branch of the Canadian Media Guild, which represents 6,000 workers in Canadian media. Other branches of the union include CBC, The Canadian Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, TVO, TFO, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, ZoomerMedia, Corus and CKOI Radio Gatineau. 

Posted on May 17, 2018 at 8:56 pm by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

Webinar: Legal advice for journos on defamation, privacy concerns and reporting in conflict zones

Do you know your legal rights and responsibilities as a freelance journalist? If you could use a refresher, tune in to CMG Freelance’s upcoming webinar with lawyer Mark Donald.

He’ll share information on journalists’ legal rights when covering protests or reporting from other high-conflict zones, including what to do if you’re arrested and detained. His presentation will also address defamation, privacy and online harassment of journalists

The webinar “Legal Advice for Journos: Reporting in conflict zones, dealing with defamation & privacy concerns is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.  You can register for it right here

Mark possesses an extensive background in civil liberties, media law and human rights litigation. As former summer law student at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Mark was on the front lines of the 2010 Toronto G20 protests. After being arrested and detained, Mark represented the CCLA’s position on the CBC.

Mark received his training from one of Toronto’s top litigation boutiques, and since being called to the Ontario Bar in 2013, he has personally handled numerous cases from downtown Toronto, to California, to Nunavut. Armed with this experience, Mark maintains an active practice involving defamation, privacy and online harassment matters.

You can register for the webinar at this link. CMG Freelance and CWA Canada Associate Members can use their membership numbers to register. For a limited time, CMG Freelance is making live viewing of our webinars available to non-members. If you’d like to watch this one, you can use the special code “Storyboard” in place of a membership number.

Archived webinars are available for viewing by CMG Freelance and CWA Canada Associate Members on this members-only page on the CMG Freelance website. Subjects of previous webinars include social media, contract negotiating and financial planning for freelancers.

Students, volunteers and emerging media workers can sign up for a free CWA Associate Membership right here.

Posted on May 15, 2018 at 9:00 pm by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , , ,

Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer May 8-14

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?

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From Canada: 

From The U.S. and beyond:

Recently on Story Board:

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.

Posted on May 14, 2018 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,