CMG Freelance members get access to free photography training through KelbyOne
Are you a professional photographer in need of a skills upgrade? Or would you like to improve your photography abilities in order to diversify your freelance business?
One of the benefits of membership in CMG Freelance is access to the online training platform KelbyOne, which has over 700 training modules on photography, Photoshop and Lightroom.
CMG Freelance members can request full access to the site for a two-week period. When each period runs out, members can reapply for access. There are a limited number of accounts for use by union members, so there may be a short waiting list at times. During your access period, you’ll have unlimited access to the KelbyOne online learning resources.
You’ll also be able to get discounts through all of KelbyOne’s business partners, which include Apple, Adobe, and B&H Photo.
KelbyOne is focused on photography skills, but CMG Freelance members also get access to Lynda.com, which offers video training modules in creative fields like design, audio, music and photography, as well as business, marketing and more.
To request access to either KelbyOne or Lynda.com, members can email CMG Freelance branch president Don Genova at freelance@cmg.ca for further instructions.
If you’re not yet a CMG Freelance member, you can find out more about the cost and other benefits of membership right here.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Jan 23-29
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:
- Ottawa poised to help newspapers in upcoming budget [CBC]
- Message to co-workers at VICE Canada on a difficult day [CMG]
- CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalist Fellowships [CJF]
- Student newspapers are thriving environments for aspiring journalists [J-Source]
- Rogers severs joint venture with Vice Canada [Canadian Magazines]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- The Internet is Enabling a New Kind of Poorly Paid Hell [The Atlantic]
- The Gig Economy Is Especially Susceptible to Sexual Harassment [New Yorker]
- 10 tips that will turn you into an epic freelancer [Freelancers Union]
- Going Digital: Inside New Science Journalism Outlets [The Open Notebook]
- There’s a new award for freelancers (and it comes with $100,000) [Poynter]
- Will Work For No Benefits: The Challenges Of Being In The New Contract Workforce [NPR]
- Kim Wall Memorial Fund inaugural grant open [IWMF]
Recently on Story Board:
- Winter Media Mixer February 13 in Toronto: Enjoy free snacks and drinks as you make connections with your colleagues working in the media. There will be mentors from several media outlets in attendance, including VICE, CBC, Corus Entertainment and the Canadian Press…
- Top Five Ways to Spot Fake News: Calling the morgue to confirm whether an employee was cremated while having a nap is not fun, says Jane Lytvynenko. But for contemporary journalists, this kind of fact-checking task is an important part of the job.
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.
Winter Media Mixer February 13 in Toronto
Toronto-area media students and freelancers, you’re invited to a free mixer on Tuesday, February 13 from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. at Watson’s (388 Richmond St W).
Enjoy free snacks and drinks as you make connections with your colleagues working in the media. There will be mentors from several media outlets in attendance, including VICE, CBC, Corus Entertainment and the Canadian Press. This event has been organized by CWA Canada, the country’s only all media union, with 6,000 members at media companies and newspapers coast to coast.
Tickets are free, but please register to reserve your space at this link. This venue is wheelchair accessible and has gender-neutral washrooms.
Top Five Ways to Spot Fake News
by Bailey Martens
BuzzFeed Canada’s Jane Lytvynenko speaks at NASH. Photo by Bailey Martens
Calling the morgue to confirm whether an employee was cremated while having a nap is not fun, says Jane Lytvynenko. But for contemporary journalists, this kind of fact-checking task is an important part of the job.
Lytvynenko, an investigative reporter for BuzzFeed Canada, ran a session at the 80th annual NASH journalism conference in Toronto, Canada. Her session focused on fake news and equipped journalism students to be able to identify it and stop it from spreading.
Lytvynenko started her session with cute puppy gifs, as only a BuzzFeed reporter would, but moved quickly on to explain the difference between fake news and misinformation. Understanding the difference allows journalists to be able to properly talk about the problem, she said.
Fake news is news that is entirely false, said Lytvynenko, as opposed to misinformation, which is a twisted version of the truth.
Common examples of fake news stories include doctored images, videos or photos described as being from the wrong event, and health scams.
Lytvynenko said there are five important questions to ask about fake news.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Jan 16-22
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:
- How to write an elevator pitch [Robyn Roste]
- Freelancers, unions use social media to build online, offline community [J-Source]
- A post on interviewing from doctor-turned-writer Vivien Fellegi [PWAC Toronto]
- As local media outlets close, Ontario mayors struggle with how to get information to the public [J-Source]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- The Guardian heads back into the black [Economist]
- How The LA Times Union Won [Huffington Post]
- HuffPost, Breaking From Its Roots, Ends Unpaid Contributions [New York Times]
- 13 things I’ve learned in 13 years of freelancing [Poynter]
- Can slowing down make you more productive? [Freelancers Union]
- “We stepped in and started doing it”: How one woman built an award-winning news outlet from her dining room table [Nieman Lab]
- 6 rules for freelancing happiness [Freelancers Union]
Recently on Story Board:
- 2017 SABEW Canada Best in Business awards open for submissions: Freelance business writers, it’s time to get your application together for the SABEW Canada Best in Business awards. The 4th annual awards will be given to work published or broadcast during the 2017 calendar year.
- Andree Lau on increasing diversity in reporting and the newsroom: As newsrooms across the country strive for greater diversity, HuffPost Canada editor-in-chief Andree Lau says there’s a need for a much more nuanced approach than simply “checking the boxes”…
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.
2017 SABEW Canada Best in Business Awards open for submissions
Freelance business writers, it’s time to get your application together for the SABEW Canada Best in Business awards. The 4th annual awards will be given to work published or broadcast during the 2017 calendar year.
There are ten categories for this year’s awards, including investigative, personal finance, breaking news coverage, profile, and long-form and short-form feature. This year there’s also a new category for audio or visual storytelling.
Freelancers who wish to submit their work must be SABEW members in good standing. There’s a special discounted freelancer entry fee of $30 for the awards.
The deadline for entries is midnight Eastern Time on February 16, 2018.
For detailed guidelines or to enter your work for an award, check out SABEW Canada’s website.
Andree Lau on increasing diversity in reporting and the newsroom
by Hannah Daley
Huffington Post editor-in-chief Andree Lau speaks at NASH. Photo by Hannah Daley
As newsrooms across the country strive for greater diversity, HuffPost Canada editor-in-chief Andree Lau says there’s a need for a much more nuanced approach than simply “checking the boxes.”
Lau spoke on January 5th at NASH, the annual Canadian student journalism conference.
This year’s conference, NASH 80: Connect, was hosted by the Ryerson Eyeopener and the Canadian University Press and featured dozens of presenters from the journalism industry, including Lau for her talk on diversity in reporting and the newsrooms.
How do we define diversity?
While race and ethnicity are immediately what come to mind, diversity actually means much more, said Lau.
“It’s not as easy as ‘I talked to a black person, I talked to a Chinese person,’ check, I’m done, my story’s diverse,’” she said.
Rather, diversity includes:
Read the rest of this post »
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Jan 10-15
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:
- Why trauma and mental health must be discussed in journalism schools [J-Source]
- 3 tips for crafting a winning story from former CBC Nonfiction Prize winner Carrie Mac [CBC Books]
- Statement from VICE Canada Union after the NYTimes article [CMG]
- Opinion: A year of reckoning looms for Canada’s newspapers [J-Source]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- A survival guide to international freelancing [CJR]
- End of the Year Business Tips for Freelance Writers [The Write Life]
- 12 books that can help you be a better writer in 2018 [Ann Handley]
- If you want to write a book, John McPhee’s advice is indispensable [Poynter]
- I Started the Media Men List [The Cut]
Recently on Story Board:
- Webinar — Reporting on Labour Issues with Sara Mojtehedzadeh: When Toronto Star reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh went undercover on the croissant production line in a Toronto factory, she learned firsthand what workers were experiencing…
- The Born Freelancer on Making New Year’s Resolutions: You could say that dreams constitute our raw material. They creatively nourish us and keep most of us moving forward. It’s just that making them into a resolution this time of year tends to add an unnecessary extra weight to them that few of us can comfortably shoulder…
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.
Webinar: Reporting on Labour Issues with Sara Mojtehedzadeh
When Toronto Star reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh went undercover on the croissant production line in a Toronto factory, she learned firsthand what workers were experiencing.
“I was really conscious of keeping up with the pace of production and not losing my job and doing things right and making sure I didn’t get fired,” she told Story Board during a phone interview.
She was so preoccupied with the tasks at hand, she said, that she had no time to think about her safety around the powerful machinery in the industrial bakery.
“I think that’s exactly why these workers are vulnerable. Because you don’t get the training and you don’t have enough time to think about your surroundings and you don’t necessarily have the experience or knowledge to know what is a safety hazard and what isn’t,” she said.
Her undercover stint resulted in an explosive story about working conditions at the factory and the company’s extensive use of vulnerable temporary workers.
Mojtehedzadeh is presenting a webinar for CMG Freelance on January 31st in which she’ll share her experiences and the lessons she’s learned during three years spent reporting on the changing workplace and workers’ rights.
Read the rest of this post »
The Born Freelancer on Making New Year’s Resolutions
The trouble with most New Year’s resolutions is that they are almost always doomed. They are unrealistic and wholly out of character. And of course any less-doomed resolutions made at the same time also tend to be discarded by association.”This is the year I’m going to write the great Canadian novel!”
“Impossible!”
“Really? OK. Well then, forget it… and my other resolution about losing 5 pounds by summer.”
Not that we should ever too easily concede that our most deeply cherished dreams are impossible. It’s often our job after all to dream dreams for a living and to capture other’s dreams in print.
You could say that dreams constitute our raw material. They creatively nourish us and keep most of us moving forward. It’s just that making them into a resolution this time of year tends to add an unnecessary extra weight to them that few of us can comfortably shoulder.
—
So – is it even worthwhile to consider making resolutions?
Yes, I believe it is – but only if they are sensible decisions, consistent with your character, that you would be making anyway regardless of the New Year.
