Tax Tips webinar for members on February 25
Sunny Widerman of Personal Tax Advisors
Tax season is approaching, freelancers. If that thought makes you sweat, we’ve got an upcoming webinar for members that’s sure to take some of the stress out of the bookkeeping side of your business.
CMG Freelance and CWA Associate Members are invited to “Keeping CRA Happy While You Do You: Tax Tips for Creatives,” a webinar with the always entertaining Sunny Widerman of Personal Tax Advisors. Sunny will help you get your tax situation sorted out so that you’ll worry less and have more time to earn.
This free webinar is scheduled for Thursday, February 25th from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm EST.
If you’re a CMG Freelance or CWA Associate Member click through to this Eventbrite page to register. If you’re not available to watch live, register anyway and you’ll receive a link where you can stream the recorded webinar at your convenience.
You’ll need your membership number to register… if you’re a new CMG Freelance member and haven’t yet received your membership card, you can contact freelance@cmg.ca to get your number.
CWA Associate Membership is free for students, volunteers and emerging media workers. You can sign up for membership right here.
For information about the price and benefits of CMG Freelance membership check out the CMG Freelance website.
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Feb 2-8
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:
- Nominees for the 2016 Alberta Magazine Awards [Alberta Magazines]
- Above the Fold: An inside look at the damage being done to Canada’s newspapers [The Walrus]
- How to Manage Your Money on a Variable Income [The Abundant Artist]
- What union drive at Vice Canada means for the future of journalism [Now Toronto]
- Paper Cuts: Does the dark cloud hanging over Canadian newspapers have a silver lining? [The Walrus]
- Striking Chronicle Herald journalists start their own news website [J-Source]
- The first conversation with a client [Luigi Benetton]
- Chronicle Herald dispute ‘an assault against journalism’ [East Coast Post]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- 12 Ways I Want to Respond to Editors vs. How I Actually Respond [The Freelancer]
- 6 Ways to Track Down a Magazine Editor [Mediabistro]
- How a Documentary on Slain Freelance Journalist James Foley Reclaims His Legacy [Rolling Stone]
- Bustle and the Industrialization of Confession [Gawker]
- 7 finance mistakes freelancers make (and the tools to fix them) [Freelancers Union]
- Stay Focused: 4 Ways to Delete Writing Distractions From Your Life [The Write Life]
Last week on Story Board:
- Greg Clark Award for early career journalists: The Canadian Journalism Foundation has an award for early-career journalists and freelancers are invited to apply for it. If you’ve got between one and five years of experience in the industry, you can apply for the Greg Clark Award…
- New Beats journalism job loss survey: Two Canadian university professors are conducting a survey that aims to find out more about what happens to journalists in Canada when they lose their jobs…
- On Story Board: Students could be key in Halifax journalists’ strike: Journalism students and recent graduates are well placed to support Chronicle Herald newsroom workers in Halifax, who have been on strike since Jan. 23…
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.
Greg Clark Award for early-career journalists
The Canadian Journalism Foundation has an award for early-career journalists and freelancers are invited to apply for it. If you’ve got between one and five years of experience in the industry, you can apply for the Greg Clark Award.
The award offers the successful applicant the opportunity to spend up to a week observing the inner workings of an organization that is key to their beat. It includes a stipend of $5000 to be partially put towards travel and accommodation expenses.
The application deadline is February 19th. For more information, check out the Greg Clark Award page on the CJF website.
New Beats journalism job loss survey
Two Canadian university professors are conducting a survey that aims to find out more about what happens to journalists in Canada when they lose their jobs.
Dr. Nicole Cohen and Dr. Andrea Hunter are working with a team of Australian researchers in an effort to gain insight into “the dynamics of restructuring in Canadian media.”
If you’re at least 18 years old and you’re a journalist who has experienced a layoff or buyout from a journalism job since 2012, you’re invited to participate in the survey. It takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and participation is anonymous.
Check out the New Beats Survey website for more information.
Students could be key in Halifax journalists’ strike
by Errol Salamon
Journalism students and recent graduates are well placed to support Chronicle Herald newsroom workers in Halifax, who have been on strike since Jan. 23. They can collaborate with newspaper workers as Ontario students did during the Peterborough Examiner strike from November 1968 to April 1969.
The Peterborough Newspaper Guild (now CWA Canada Local 30248) formed in May 1968 to represent the Examiner’s 23 newsroom employees. The Thomson-owned Examiner had planned to reduce employee wages and benefits, and failed to address the pay differential between male and female workers.
The Guild was an advocate for many of the same issues that the Halifax Typographical Union (HTU) would confront at the Chronicle Herald nearly 50 years later.
On Nov. 2, 1968, after Thomson blatantly refused to address the Guild’s concerns, the Examiner employees went on strike. They called on students from Trent University to join them on the picket line to put pressure on management to negotiate for their first contract. (Thomson had hired strikebreakers to keep the paper running.)
With the assistance of the Canadian University Press, the Guild gathered more support: An Ontario student contingent was organized by the Industrial Union of Education Workers, based at the University of Waterloo.
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Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Jan 26-Feb 1
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:
- The problem with Postmedia [Toronto Star]
- Another Canadian paper went -30- today [Poynter]
- 149-year-old Canadian paper’s final front page is pretty much perfect [Poynter]
- The Chronicle Herald proposed contract could remove union, legal experts say [CBC]
- Nanaimo Daily News night editor Paul Walton: Ship of state now sails with no rudder [J-Source]
- Contract Fundamentals: A Lawyer’s Perspective [Living Freelance]
- Let’s Talk About How My Job at Bell Gave Me Mental Health Issues and No Benefits [Canadaland]
- Rogers Media to cut approximately 200 jobs [Masthead]
- Guelph Mercury ends print edition [J-Source]
- Black Press closes Nanaimo Daily News after 141 years of publishing [CBC]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- The Rookie Guide to Freelance Writing [Mediabistro]
- What Is ‘Corporate Writing’ and Why Is It Such a Great Gig? [Mediabistro]
- Oxford literary festival to consider paying authors, following outcry [The Guardian]
- Freelancing and Labor Law: A Short History [The Freelancer]
- Pitch Fix: Before Submitting Your Story Idea, Consider Your Research Options [The Write Life]
- What Makes a Good Magazine Story? [Mediabistro]
- The 5 Most Popular Platforms for Finding Sources, Ranked [The Freelancer]
Last week on Story Board:
- The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #26 — Arno Kopecky: Arno Kopecky won the 2015 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for his article Title Fight, which ran in the Walrus last summer…
- CMG Freelance launches media card program: The Freelance Branch of the Canadian Media Guild will now offer a media card, available to its journalist members…
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 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #26 — Arno Kopecky
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.
Arno Kopecky won the 2015 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for his article Title Fight, which ran in the Walrus last summer.
The Vancouver-based writer has had his work published in Maclean’s, the Globe and Mail and Reader’s Digest. He has also written two books: The Devil’s Curve and The Oil Man and the Sea, both of which explore environmental and Indigenous issues.
He took some time to speak with Story Board recently about longform journalism, building confidence, and surviving the hungry early years of a writing career.
How do you tend to approach a subject that you want to write about?
Usually I go to a place and live in it as best I can. I should preface this by saying I got a grant from Canada Council for the Arts to write a novel a few months ago, so that is now my life. Which has allowed me to sort of step away from journalism altogether. But I got into freelancing about 12 years ago and it was sort of a way to combine my love of travel and my interest in current affairs and global affairs.
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CMG Freelance Launches Media Card Program
The Freelance Branch of the Canadian Media Guild will now offer a media card, available to its journalist members.
“We’ve heard from our members that having a media card may make it easier for them to gain access to events or interviews, and provide a ‘calling card’ that asserts they are qualified freelance journalists,” says Don Genova, CMG Freelance President.
The front of the wallet-sized card will feature the member’s name and photo, while the back of the card will contain a QR code that will link to the member’s profile on the CMG Freelance website.
Genova says, “The QR code is a quick way for the cardholder to showcase their credentials, as their profiles can contain samples of their work; it also gives any authority scanning the card an instant way to verify the identity and experience of the cardholder.”
Media cards will not cost extra for members. They do have to hold a valid membership, which is $150/yr for independent freelancers. Regular freelancers at the CBC are also eligible to apply, as are people who freelance to other employers with CMG-based collective agreements. They must hold a current CMG membership number.
The applications will be reviewed by Genova along with Scott Edmonds, a retired Canadian Press reporter/editor who is also a member of the Freelance Branch.
“We are asking people to do a little bit of work to get the card,” notes Genova. “They need to have their online profile with us updated and demonstrate, with references, that they are indeed making at least part of their living from freelance media work. And the updated profiles will make it easier for us to refer potential employers to one or more of our members.”
To purchase a membership, visit cmgfreelance.ca. If you’re already a member, you can apply for your media card right here. Any questions can be directed to Don Genova at freelance@cmg.ca.
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Jan 19-25
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:
- Chronicle Herald suspends layoff notices, says union [Toronto Star]
- Canada’s national fabric is paying price for depletion of journalistic resources: Hébert [Toronto Star]
- Op-ed: Dear Canadian journalists, It’s time to take action [Ryerson Review]
- Why the Chronicle Herald is locked in a labour dispute [J-Source]
- The true meaning of Postmedia’s job cuts can’t be captured in numbers [Globe and Mail]
- Nobody likes a scab: Journalists must oppose Chronicle Herald lockout [Rabble]
- Postmedia’s betrayal of trust [Unifor]
- Postmedia merges newsrooms, cuts 90 jobs in response to financial woes [Globe and Mail]
- State of the Unions [Canadaland]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- Why You Should Be Pursuing Anchor Clients and How to Do It [The Freelancer]
- How to “winterize” your freelance business [Freelancers Union]
- 8 Blogs Every Media Professional Should Follow [Mediabistro]
- Choose a main character and 9 other ideas for starting a story [Poynter
- Does Your Personality Fit The Gig Economy? [Forbes]
- As Jason Rezaian goes free, press freedom worldwide remains imperiled [Poynter]
- Why English writers accept being treated like dirt [The Spectator]
- So You Want to be a Freelance Writer [Spirit Style Scribe]
Last week on Story Board:
- CWA Canada Associate Members call for solidarity with Halifax journalists: CWA Canada Associate Members are joining the Halifax Typographical Union (CWA Canada Local 30130) in calling on freelancers and student journalists to stand in solidarity with newsroom staff at The Chronicle Herald who could be on picket lines Saturday morning…
- Links between freelancing and gender inequality highlighted by Chronicle Herald labour dispute: The Halifax Chronicle Herald made headlines last week for contacting freelance journalists to replace the newspaper’s employees during a possible lockout or strike, which could start as early as January 23…
- Freelancers, union leaders urge support for Chronicle Herald staff during labour dispute: Sandra Phinney knows exactly how difficult it is to negotiate with the owners of the Halifax Chronicle Herald. The Yarmouth-based freelance writer was offered a harsh contract by the company several years ago…
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.
CWA Canada Associate Members call for solidarity with Halifax journalists
by the CWA Canada Associate Member steering committee
CWA Canada Associate Members are joining the Halifax Typographical Union (CWA Canada Local 30130) in calling on freelancers and student journalists to stand in solidarity with newsroom staff at The Chronicle Herald who could be on picket lines Saturday morning.
Management at the daily newspaper, which gave notice of a lockout last week, has for several months been attempting to recruit recent journalism school graduates and freelancers to produce news coverage in the event of a work stoppage.
Negotiations between the company and the Halifax Typographical Union (HTU), which represents 61 editorial workers, came to a standstill after only two days. The Herald refused to budge on its proposals, which include wage cuts, an increase in working hours, a removal of a gender parity clause in the contract and a layoff of a third of the staff.
CWA Canada Associate Members, who include 600 students, precarious and emerging media workers across the country, support the union in fighting against these detrimental changes in the newsroom. Not only would these proposals negatively impact the current workers, they would eliminate good jobs at The Chronicle Herald for the next generation. Management’s proposals would lower wages and working standards across the media industry, also making it more difficult for freelancers and entry-level workers to earn a fair pay.
In preparation for the work stoppage, the Herald has also “indefinitely” removed the bylines and credits of its journalists and photographers, which will help management hide the identities of journalists who scab during a work stoppage.
As a result of management’s heavy-handed tactics and recent outreach to journalism school grads and freelancers to work as scabs, the HTU has asked that anyone contacted by the paper refuse assignments.
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