Webinar: Storytelling for brands

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Brand storytelling can be a lucrative industry for freelancers. Now, more than ever, brands are seeking the advice of artists (writers, podcasters, graphic designers, photographers) to help tell their stories in ways that authentically connect. The next in our series of professional development webinars will help you find success in this field. 

The webinar Storytelling for Brands is scheduled for March 23rd at 3 p.m. EST

The webinar will explore the evolution of content marketing, as well as best practices for developing successful branded content for clients who may contract your services as a freelancer.

The webinar will be led by Matthew Manuge, associate creative director at Blue Ant’s Media Solutions Group in Toronto. Matthew was recently named one of Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30. He has led successful creative campaigns for clients such as Canon, Axe, Samsung, Home Hardware, Bosch, Ford and more. Matthew has also worked in film and television on several feature films and documentaries, as well as producing and directing a 13-part television comedy series titled Free-Loading.

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 contract negotiation, social media, freelance finances, and achieving “Inbox Zero.”

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

For information about the price and benefits of CMG Freelance membership check out the CMG Freelance website.

Posted on March 9, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

Off the Page, with journalist Simon Diotte

Off the Page is an interview series featuring National Magazine Award winners. This week we’re chatting with Montreal writer and editor Simon Diotte. He gained recognition for his 2016 National Magazine Award-winning travel story “Sur les traces d’un écrivain voyageur” (“In the Footsteps of a Travel Writer”) published in Oxygène, where he is editor-in-chief. The story recounts a multi-day hiking trip in France in the company of a donkey named Muscade, following the trail of the great Scottish adventurer Robert Louis Stevenson who hiked the same path in 1878.

NMAF: For the uninitiated, tell us about Oxygène magazine and your readers?
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Posted on March 8, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Feb 28-Mar 6

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?

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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 March 6, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,

New UK report highlights the challenges of freelancing

This post is the eleventh in a series called “E-Lancer Writes,” exploring the working conditions, rights and collective organizing strategies of freelance journalists, interns and other low-wage or temporary digital media workers.

By Errol Salamon

New data confirm that the number of freelance journalists has increased across the UK since 2000 and their pay is lower than the national average.

A report published on February 13 by the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) found that the number of freelance journalists increased from 15,000 to 25,000 between 2000 and 2015. Freelance—or self-employment—represents 35 percent of jobs for journalists versus 15 percent for all workers across the UK economy. These numbers are similar to the findings in the UK’s 2015 National Labour Force Survey.

The NCTJ survey data suggest the mean annual income for all freelance journalists is £19,499 ($32,099 CAD), while it’s £22,487 ($37,018 CAD) for all occupations. Freelancers may be paid less because a higher proportion of them work part time—43 percent compared to 29 percent of workers across all occupations.

“I also teach sometimes: this is a common source of income for mid-career onwards journos, so it’s important,” said a freelancer who completed the NCTJ survey.

Yet some survey respondents said their overall earnings have decreased in recent years.
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Posted on March 2, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , , ,

Freelancers’ social night in Vancouver March 7

Vancouver-area freelancers, come out for a freelancers’ social night on Tuesday, March 7th at 6 p.m. at Central City Brewing (871 Beatty St). 

CMG Freelance members and non-members are all welcome. There will be some CMG Freelance swag giveaways and lots of new freelance colleagues to meet.

Please RSVP this week to freelance@cmg.ca to let us know if you can make it. Hope to see you there!

Posted on February 28, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Feb 21-27

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?

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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 February 27, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,

Off the Page, with investigative journalist Virgil Grandfield

Off the Page is a regular interview series featuring National Magazine Award winners. In this interview we chat with freelance journalist Virgil Grandfield, who won the 2016 National Magazine Award for Investigative Reporting.

In his award-winning investigative story “The Cage” (Eighteen Bridges) Virgil Grandfield describes one particular day of his multi-year investigation into human trafficking allegedly linked to Red Cross humanitarian efforts in Indonesia, post-tsunami. “Eva” is his assistant; “Mulyo” is a labour agent who may have been involved in human trafficking; “Otong” is a worker who disappeared while working on a Red Cross project and was allegedly murdered while trying to escape.


NMAF: In 2008, you decided to resign your position as spokesperson for the Red Cross / Red Crescent reconstruction efforts in Indonesia’s Aceh province. The international community had poured millions into rebuilding the region after the 2004 tsunami and 2005 earthquake, and from your position you were able to observe human trafficking creeping into the humanitarian project. How did you start down this road?
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Posted on February 23, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , ,

Alberta Publishing company and CEO Ruth Kelly leave their freelance content creators shivering through the winter – Hire now; pay much, much later

Edmonton, February 22, 2017 – Venture Publishing Inc. of Edmonton and its CEO Ruth Kelly have developed a disturbing business model when it comes to paying the freelance contributors hired to create articles, photos, and illustrations for the various magazines the company produces, such as Alberta Venture, Alberta Oil, and Heroes on behalf of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation.

For several years, Venture Publishing has contracted freelance writers, photographers, graphic designers, and illustrators to produce content, and then failed to pay them in a timely manner, or at all.

Venture Publishing currently owes tens of thousands of dollars to these freelancers, and has failed to make good on constant promises to pay them for their work. For those freelancers who do get paid, Venture takes months, or even years, to fulfill its financial obligations.

“Many of the people we’re representing have told me how frustrated they have been, and how some have had their credit ratings ruined because they couldn’t pay bills they were counting on covering with income owed from Venture,” said Canadian Media Guild (CMG) Freelance Branch President Don Genova. “It’s shocking that Ruth Kelly feels she can commission people to fill their magazines with high quality photos, stories, and illustrations, and then not bother to pay them for months and months, leaving her editors, art directors, and financial people to make excuses about why the cheques haven’t been sent. I wonder how the Alberta Congress Board feels now about selecting her as the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Workplace Leader award, when she treats her content providers like this.”

In 2016, a CMG Freelance Branch member approached Genova for help in getting the pay she was owed. Genova soon discovered other freelancers with the same problem. Some reported they had been paid, but only after months or sometimes years of waiting. Others said they were still owed money, and provided contracts, invoices, and email threads to substantiate their claims.
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Posted on February 22, 2017 at 8:00 am by editor · 3 Comments · Tagged with: , , , ,

Webinar: “How To Go Viral Like A Journalist”

yulischeidt-Lauren-headshot-4Ever wonder how BuzzFeed finds funny, heartwarming, or enraging viral news before everyone else? The next in our series of professional development webinars will look at how to track down content on social media, how to find the best tools that do the work for you, and how to make sure you’re not falling for a viral hoax.

The webinar How To Go Viral Like A Journalist is scheduled for Tuesday February 28, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The webinar will be hosted by Lauren Strapagiel, managing editor for Canada at BuzzFeed. She has previously worked at the National Post, Canada.com, and the Huffington Post Canada.

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 contract negotiation, pitching, freelance finances, and achieving “Inbox Zero.”

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

For information about the price and benefits of CMG Freelance membership check out the CMG Freelance website.

Posted on February 21, 2017 at 9:31 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , ,

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Feb 14-20

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?

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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 February 20, 2017 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,