Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer May 10-16
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:
- CJFE to intervene in Vice Canada vs. RCMP appeal [CJFE]
- Postmedia’s Godfrey urges tax breaks to keep ad dollars in Canada [Globe and Mail]
- New Calgary media outlet hopes for a jumpstart with Kickstarter [J-Source]
- 35th annual AJAs winners announced [Masthead]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- Tip: Here’s how to avoid distractions when working [Journalism.co.uk]
- Advice for this year’s journalism graduates, from the journalism industry [Poynter]
- 5 Marketing Tips for Getting Work to Come to You [The Freelancer]
- 25 Quotes That Will Make You a Better Freelancer [The Freelancer]
- If freelancing were a film, it’d be a superhero movie [Freelancers Union]
- 6 Time Management Tips for Overwhelmed Freelance Writers [The Write Life]
- 10 Good and Bad Things About Co-Working [The Freelancer]
Last week on Story Board:
- Copyright, libel and kill fees — Negotiating a freelancer-friendly contract: The hottest topic of conversation for freelancers is definitely money. But freelance contracts come in a close second. That’s why we like to offer a regular refresher on the subject here on Story Board…
- The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #29 — Alison Motluk: Alison Motluk is a Toronto freelance writer and broadcaster. She has written for CBC programs such as IDEAS and Quirks and Quarks as well as for publications such as the Globe and Mail, New Scientist, and The Walrus…
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.
Copyright, libel and kill fees: Negotiating a freelancer-friendly contract
by Rachel Sanders
The hottest topic of conversation for freelancers is definitely money. But freelance contracts come in a close second. That’s why we like to offer a regular refresher on the subject here on Story Board.
Publishers have been adding some distinctly freelancer-unfriendly clauses to their contracts over the past few years. And with well-paid freelance writing work getting harder and harder to come by, freelancers are more likely to sign contracts that aren’t in their best interests. The results can be devastating.
We checked in with agent Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group recently to find out what he’s been seeing in freelance contracts and to ask for some advice on negotiating better contract terms.
Copyright
The Copyright Act automatically assigns copyright to the creator of a work, but publishers have started adding clauses to their freelance contracts over the past few years that require freelancers to relinquish their copyright.
Loss of copyright can mean loss of income for freelancers. Especially when contracts claim copyright not only of the published story, but of underlying research materials and raw interview tape as well. If you give that up, you lose your ability to re-sell your work or even more than one story that’s based on the same research material.
And loss of copyright has implications besides loss of income – it can also affect your reputation. Canadian parenting writer Ann Douglas wrote a post for Story Board in 2013 about a clause in her contract with the Toronto Star that allowed them to sub-license her column to third party publishing partners.
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The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #29 — Alison Motluk
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.
Alison Motluk is a Toronto freelance writer and broadcaster.
She has written for CBC programs such as IDEAS and Quirks and Quarks as well as for publications such as the Globe and Mail, New Scientist, and The Walrus.
Motluk led a workshop on negotiating strategies last month in a CMG Freelance training session in Toronto. She took the time to speak with Story Board recently to share some of her thoughts about negotiating, professional development, and the many joys and challenges of working as a freelance journalist.
What do you like about freelancing?
I like almost everything about it. I like planning my day. I like picking what stories I get to write.
I like working hard when I want to work hard and not working when I don’t feel I can work.
I like working with a lot of different kinds of people but not being in the same room with them all day long.
There’s a lot to recommend freelancing.
What are the biggest challenges?
The number one challenge, I’m sure everyone will agree, is that the pay is abysmal. And it hasn’t always been that way. I started freelancing in ’99 and, honestly, the rates have gone down over that time. So as my electricity bill and my gas bill and my food bill and the TTC go up, my wage has gone down.
I guess it happens in other disciplines, too, but I really find it unbelievable, still, even as I watch it happen. So number one, the actual rates are going down.
And number two, I think because the people who buy our work have less money, the quantity of opportunities, to some extent, has gone down.
There’s so many things that have changed the nature of the business we’re in. But is it that people don’t want to read anymore? No, people still love to read and listen to broadcasts.
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Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer May 3-9
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:
- Globe and Mail Editor-in-Chief: “Sloppy standards” is where they found issues with Wente [J-Source]
- Why Definitely Not the Opera is signing off CBC Radio after 22 years [J-Source]
- I work at VICE Canada and I need a union [CMG]
- VICE Canada to unionize [Masthead]
- National Magazine Awards finalists announced [J-Source]
- 6 reasons you still haven’t done your taxes… and how to get over them [Rags To Reasonable]
- 2016 Emerge Media Award winners announced [J-Source]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- The Powerful Case for Developing Your Fiction Writing Platform [The Write Life]
- How to make sure you don’t end up with a client from hell [Freelancers Union]
- How to (finally) tackle that pet project [Freelancers Union]
- Stop working for free: “Why would any self-respecting writer put up with that?” [Salon]
- The news industry can’t cut its way to quality [Poynter]
Last week on Story Board:
- CMG submits application for Vice Canada union: The Vice Canada union campaign reached an important milestone last week — the Canadian Media Guild filed for certification with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board…
- Query Smarts — How to increase your batting average: I’ve heard editors say that upwards of 80 percent of the queries they receive are deleted without reading further than the end of the first paragraph. Why? It all comes down to three things…
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.
Query smarts: how to increase your batting average
Freelance writer Sandra Phinney
By Sandra Phinney
I’ve heard editors say that upwards of 80 percent of the queries they receive are deleted without reading further than the end of the first paragraph.
Why? It all comes down to three things:
- writers don’t know the readership of the magazine
- writers are not tuned into the content, tone and style of the magazine.
- most queries are about topics; they lack an angle or slant
How to change that? First, source two or three back issues of any magazine you want to write for. You can usually find back issues online, at your local library, or in second hand bookstores.
Then do the following four exercises.
Once you’ve completed the exercises, you’ll be in a position to create the perfect pitch because you will have a clear idea of who reads the publication, the kind of articles that appeal to that readership, and the tone and style in which they are written.
Armed with this information, you will be able to write your query slanted to the readership, in the same “voice” as the magazine. Your pitch will reflect that you are both familiar with the publication and that you are a savvy freelancer.
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CMG submits application for Vice Canada union
The Vice Canada union campaign reached an important milestone last week — the Canadian Media Guild filed for certification with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board. The labour board now needs to confirm that the union has support from at least 40% of employees. After that, the board will call for a vote.
Employees who haven’t yet signed a union card can still do so at right here.
And Vice freelancers can also be part of the unionization efforts. CMG organizer Karen Wirsig recently told Story Board that she wants to hear from freelancers about their experiences with Vice. She said that once the campaign reaches the collective bargaining phase, the CMG will aim to bargain some improvements for freelancers into the contract — including clauses related to prompt and fair payment.
If you’d like more information or would like to speak to Wirsig in confidence, you can call her at 416-578-1651 or reach her by email at karen@cmg.ca.
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer April 26-May 2
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:
- 2016 Emerge Media Award winners announced [J-Source]
- Vice Canada applies to unionize with Canadian Media Guild [CBC]
- What union drive at Vice Canada means for the future of journalism [Now Toronto]
- Vice pushes back in legal fight with Canadian police [Vice]
- Deaf community calls for more news broadcasts to be accessible [J-Source]
- Waterloo PWAC panel: different ways to work as a freelance writer [PWAC]
- CMG filed at the labour board for Vice Canada union certificate [CMG]
- Big loser in Wente plagiarism? Globe’s reputation [J-Source]
- CBC shortchanges local programming on road to reinvestment [CMG]
- Wentegate 2016: A round-up [J-Source]
- The do’s and don’ts of gathering ambient background, or harvesting ‘wild sound’ [The Doc Project]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- Pitch Fix: How to sell a story that relies on a news peg [The Write Life]
- The 10 Most Annoying LinkedIn Messages Freelancers Get [The Freelancer]
- 30 Resources for Turning Your Writing Business Into a Money-Making Machine [The Write Life]
- Why other freelancers are NOT the enemy [Freelancers Union]
- 5 Tips for Freelancing Through Personal Chaos [The Freelancer]
- Mail Online rips off freelance journalist… yet again [The Guardian]
- How to Discover and Protect Your Most Creative Time for Writing [The Write Life]
- Journalists are increasingly speaking out against sexualized violence, report says [Poynter]
- Is It Morally Okay to Ghostwrite? [The Freelancer]
- 5 tips for journalists from a Pulitzer-winning researcher [Poynter]
Last week on Story Board:
- Chatelaine’s call for unpaid submissions: One of our freelance union members recently brought our attention to a recent call for submissions by Chatelaine magazine. Writers whose articles are selected will not be paid for their work…
- CMG Freelance supporting striking Chronicle Herald freelancers: This is the first time that CMG Freelance has been able to offer support to members losing work because of a strike…
- Interning at Unionized Media Companies Pays—Literally: Summer internship season is about to begin. But decently paid internships, like jobs, are hard to find. Still, internships are often seen as the pathway to a job in journalism. That’s why media unions in Canada have been leading efforts to help emerging journalists find paid placements…
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.
Chatelaine’s call for unpaid submissions
One of our freelance union members recently brought our attention to a recent call for submissions by Chatelaine magazine. The call-out asks readers to submit full 500-word stories that have not been published elsewhere.
Writers whose articles are selected will not be paid for their work.
In response to Story Board’s request for comment on the magazine’s call for unpaid submissions, Chatelaine’s Editor-in-Chief Lianne George said via email that the series was created as a forum for readers to share stories with a broad audience.
“It’s an experiment in user-generated content and so far we’ve been really pleased with the interest and the range of submissions,” she said.
CMG Freelance branch president Don Genova said this week that the type of submissions Chatelaine is requesting are worth paying for.
“I’m glad that their efforts to obtain free content are going well but it doesn’t really do much to advance the case for good writing in this country,” he said.
“It’s one thing to request letters to the editor in response to things published in the magazine, but to ask people to generate original content that will meet Chatelaine’s publication standards is worth something. Having your submission accepted in a situation like this is like winning a lottery for which there’s no prize aside from getting your name in print. And anyone can get their name in print these days.”
David Hayes, Toronto freelance writer, editor and co-founder of the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers listserv (TFEW), posted on that message board last week that he doesn’t think Chatelaine should be soliciting free work given the funding they receive from the government.
Chatelaine receives $1.5M in funding from the Canadian Periodical Fund each year.
“Nothing is more tiresome than the way businesspeople in the media pay for everything else in the world relating to the running of their business except when it comes to short-changing, or trying to get away with not paying at all, for content,” wrote Hayes.
Freelance writer M. Jay Smith also posted in the same TFEW message thread.
“Ironically, I was very recently in contact with a Chatelaine editor who informed me that the magazine is not currently soliciting freelance content,” she wrote.
Genova said that he, too, finds the situation ironic.
“Chatelaine claims that it is Canada’s biggest, best women’s magazine that likes to report on social issues and current events, while at the same time doesn’t mind exploiting its predominant female audience to get free content,” he said.
“Why doesn’t Chatelaine commission a story about how women are still making the same amount of money (or less) writing for periodicals as they made 30 years ago?”
CMG Freelance supporting striking Chronicle Herald freelancers
On January 23rd of this year, the 61 members of the Halifax Typographical Union’s newsroom unit went on strike for a fair deal from the Halifax Chronicle Herald newspaper.
While the picket lines remain up, the members still wanted to tell stories, take photos, and keep Nova Scotians informed of news that matters to them.
They formed an online-only news site called Local Xpress, staffed by volunteers and funded by parent union CWA Canada and the HTU.
When the strike action was launched, Chronicle Herald management hired scab labour, and told freelance contributors they could still write for the paper. Many declined that offer, and some of them took a further step and joined CMG Freelance, a branch created to serve the needs of independent freelance workers as well as those at CBC. These freelancers are all members of the Canadian Media Guild, a local of CWA Canada.
When they joined, CMG Freelance, CWA Canada, and the HTU all agreed that those members choosing to forgo income from the Chronicle Herald could earn some money by submitting stories to Local Express.
It’s the first time that CMG Freelance has been able to offer support to members losing work because of a strike.
Interning at Unionized Media Companies Pays—Literally
This post is the fourth 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
Summer internship season is about to begin. But decently paid internships, like jobs, are hard to find. Still, internships are often seen as the pathway to a job in journalism. That’s why media unions in Canada have been leading efforts to help emerging journalists find paid placements. What are unions doing to ensure that students get this vital experience and also get paid?
Paid internships
Some unionized media outlets, such as the Canadian Press (CP) and The Globe and Mail, pay summer interns the equivalent of the entry-level employee rates outlined in their collective agreements. Both internship programs, based in Toronto, are still thriving. While The Globe usually hires up to 20 summer interns, CP normally accepts about six applicants.
At other media outlets such as the Victoria Times Colonist, unions have created paid journalism internship programs. The internship program at the Times Colonist was established in 2002 by the Victoria Vancouver Island Newspaper Guild (CWA Canada Local 30223), wrote local president Chris Carolan in an email.
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