Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer June 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:
Vivian Smith’s “Outsiders Still” a hard look at Canadian newspapers’ gender problem [J-Source]- Freelance journalist alleges former Vancouver Olympic CEO defamed her [Globe and Mail]
- People’s journalism under fire: Remembering Ali Mustafa [Rabble]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- What to do when your potential client pulls a disappearing act [Freelancers Union]
- The secrets to budgeting as a freelancer [The Next Web]
- Digital news consumers unlikely to pay for content and increasingly block ads [CJR]
- Is Gawker’s Unionization a Sign That Creative Workers Are Finally Realizing Their Worth? [The Nation]
- 5 Free Online Tools for Freelance Writers [Freelancers Union]
- Opinion: journalism companies are dead. Long live journalists. [Poynter]
- How to Market Yourself as a Freelance Writer: 4 Mistakes to Avoid [The Write Life]
- Ask a Freelancer: When Should I Start Turning Down New Assignments? [The Freelancer]
- At Gawker Media, New Economy Workers Strive to Form a New Kind of Union [New York Times]
- A union revolution at Gawker isn’t quite around the corner [Poynter]
- Pitching Advice for Student Journalists [Journalism.co.uk]
Last week on Story Board:
- The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #21 — Ann Douglas: 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…
- @crapwritinggigs Twitter account mocks low paying jobs for writers: $5 per post. $0.02 per word. It’s numbers like these that make a freelance writer’s heart sink. And there’s no shortage of jobs with this kind of rock bottom writing rate being advertised on the internet these days…
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 #21 — Ann Douglas
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.
Ann Douglas has written more than a dozen books and over 1000 magazine articles on pregnancy and parenting. Her work has appeared in such publications as Canadian Living, Chatelaine, Today’s Parent, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, and The Chicago Tribune. Once in a while, we’re lucky enough to have the Peterborough-based bestselling author stop by to write a post for Story Board, too.
Ann took the time recently to share her thoughts about the importance of honesty, a supportive community and regular exercise for freelance writers.
At what point in your writing career did you decide to specialize in parenting and why?
It’s funny because until I had children I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to write about. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t really have anything to say. I wrote real estate articles and health articles and all kinds of things, but once I had my first child and I lived through the experience of infant colic I suddenly felt like “okay, now I really have something to talk about.” Because day-to-day I’m struggling with this, trying to figure out what do you do when your baby’s colicky. And so my first article that was published after she was born was published when she was about six weeks old and it was called “We Survived Infant Colic.”
It’s interesting when I look back at that because that has sort of defined my whole career. I go through an experience and then I try to find a way to help other people as a result of what I’ve learned along the way.
@crapwritinggigs Twitter account mocks low-paying jobs for writers
by Rachel Sanders
$5 per post. $0.02 per word. It’s numbers like these that make a freelance writer’s heart sink. And there’s no shortage of jobs with this kind of rock bottom writing rate being advertised on the internet these days.
For one writer, it all just got to be too much. Six months ago that person started a Twitter account called @crapwritinggigs.
Several times a week the account’s owner, identified only as “Freelance Writer,” posts links to poorly paid writing jobs along with grumpy comments and pointed observations about the company advertising the gig.
Time to re-examine the business model @quarksquasars. "Despite our large following .. we offer .02$/word." http://t.co/1MopfRCN6S
— Freelance Writer (@crapwritinggigs) June 4, 2015
Story Board contacted the owner of the account through a direct Twitter message and received an anonymous email response shortly thereafter.
Read the rest of this post »
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer June 9-15
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:
- Magazine editor and writer Jocelyn Laurence has died [Canadian Magazines]
- CBC host Evan Solomon fired after Star investigation finds he took secret cut of art deals [Toronto Star]
- Fired editor-in-chief sues Tyee online magazine for wrongful dismissal [The Province]
- 2015 National Magazine Awards Winners [Magazines Canada]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- Three Ways to Weather a Freelancing Dry-Spell [Huffington Post]
- Why policy makers need to pay attention to the freelance movement [Fast Company]
- To Get Better Gigs, What Should I Do This Week? This Month? This Year? [The Freelancer]
- Winning at the new freelance life: how to be a brand and be happy [Mashable]
- Spring Clean Your Writing Business And Boost Your Income: 7 Ways [Write To Done]
- Perfection is the enemy [Freelancers Union]
- Always Get Dressed in the Morning, and 6 Other Rules Successful Freelancers Break [The Freelancer]
- Infographic: Are You Charging the Right Hourly Rate as a Freelancer? [Ryan Robinson]
- Reporters announce conference in Lousiville to unionize digital media [Capital New York]
- The Beginner’s Guide to Freshbooks: How to Create an Invoice [The Write Life]
- Kickstarting a books revolution: the literary crowdfunding boom [The Guardian]
Last week on Story Board:
- The Born Freelancer Applies for a Line of Credit, Part 2: It seems to me that as more and more individuals become self-employed the banks really need to step out of their 19th century paradigm and wake up to the fact that a growing number of their clients in the 21st century are going to be freelancers…
- How I learned to ‘bend time’ and put in an honest workday: This writing assignment is a blessing: after years of preaching about the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method that supports the practice of willpower, I get to fully dive in and tell you about it…
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 Born Freelancer Applies for a Line of Credit, Part 2
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? Your input is welcome in the comments. Read Part 1 of this 2-part series on freelancers and credit here.
Spoiler Alert: I didn’t get it. 
To recap:
I had applied for a line of credit at my bank, a bank to which I had given my business for over 30 years. (Little did I know that they were about to give me the business.)
In my favour I had:
* Lots of stuff
* An RRSP
* Paid off credit cards
* An excellent credit score
* A history of no debts
* A previously preauthorized offer for an LOC
* A modest but healthy bank balance
What could go wrong?
How I learned to ‘bend time’ and put in an honest workday
By Angie Gallop
I’m a mother with two children under age five, a writer, the co-owner (with my husband) of a thriving freelance business and, oh… did I mention I run a small literary festival?
Between asking my four-year-old to stop wiggling so I can get her hair brushed; getting the 22 month-old into a new diaper; walking these children to school (something I would never miss); then coming home to carefully walk past the sinkful of dishes, basketful of laundry, and errant toys strewn on the floor to get to my desk; the amount of focus I need to get down to work can be daunting.
Never mind the temptation of e-mail and social media… open either I can be sunk for the day.
Willpower is like a muscle: it gets tired with use
One look at the lives of freelance writers, who typically work where they live, and it’s no wonder that the weekly planning, obsessive time-mapping, and lists – oh the lists – often don’t work.
Don’t get me wrong. Plans are good. But, it’s willpower, not lists and plans that makes or breaks a writer.
Which is why this writing assignment is a blessing: after years of preaching about the pomodoro technique, a time management method that supports the practice of willpower, I get to fully dive in and tell you about it.
Read the rest of this post »
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer June 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:
- Working towards better coverage of Aboriginal issues [J-Source]
- Coming to a screen near you: 27 cent-per-story journalism? [J-Source]
- 61st annual KRW Awards honours the best B2B publications [Masthead]
- University Affairs and Canadian Grocer named b2b magazines of the year [Canadian Magazines]
- A look at the ethically complex world of native advertising [J-Source]
- Writers’ Union reports a “cultural emergency” as authors are working harder to make less [Canadian Magazines]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- The gender gap in American newspapers, in 2 charts [Vox]
- How Can You Calculate the Best Time to Write? [The Freelancer]
- What Top Travel Editors Want From Freelancers [Travel Writing 2.0]
- Why setting a routine is key to your sanity [Freelancers Union]
- Gawker Media staff votes to unionize [Gawker]
- Working 9-To-5 Becoming a Less Popular Way to Make a Living [Inc.]
- This Secret Pinterest Board Inspires My Best Writing Ideas [The Freelancer]
- 25 Twitter Accounts Every Freelancer Should Follow [The Freelancer]
- The Remote Worker’s Guide to Office Etiquette [Lifehack]
- Advice for summer interns: Don’t screw this up [Poynter]
Last week on Story Board:
- New CBC pitch guidelines up this week: Radio freelancers and independent audio producers will be interested to read the new CBC pitch guidelines that went up on the CBC’s website this week…
- New CMG video promotes Guide to Working in Factual Television: The Canadian Media Guild released a new video today to promote a factual TV industry guide produced in collaboration with Canadian factual TV workers…
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.
New CBC pitch guidelines up this week
Radio freelancers and independent audio producers will be interested to read the new CBC pitch guidelines that went up on the CBC’s website this week. The new pitch page has a heavier emphasis on podcasting, with descriptions that will help applicants differentiate between a podcast and a radio program, as well as a list of topics that the CBC is interested in exploring in future programming. There’s also a useful page of FAQs, and a Draft Your Pitch page with specific questions that you need to answer in your show proposal.
The pitch guide includes a section on the Doc Project, a mentorship program that has been running since the fall of 2014 and was recently renewed for a second year. Deadlines for the next round of Doc Project pitching have not yet been announced, but there’s an info session scheduled for Tuesday, June 9th at 12:30pm in Room 3G200 at CBC in Toronto. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP to docproject@cbc.ca. The info session will be recorded and posted on the Doc Project’s YouTube channel for aspiring radio documentary makers outside of Toronto.
In the meantime, there are hours and hours of valuable audio and radio production training sessions already posted on the Doc Project’s YouTube channel. And the Doc Project is also set to become a summer CBC radio show. Starting on July 1st, the program will air on Radio One on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. The show will air thirteen original documentaries that were produced as part of the Doc Project as well as interviews with some of the documentary makers.
You can find out more about the Doc Project in their Facebook group or follow them on Twitter.
New CMG video promotes Guide to Working in Canadian Factual TV Production
The Canadian Media Guild released a new video today to promote a factual TV industry guide produced in collaboration with Canadian factual TV workers.
The Guide to Working in Canadian Factual TV Production offers information and advice to people working in non-fiction, reality, documentary and lifestyle television.
CMG organizer Karen Wirsig says the guide was first proposed by a factual TV worker who had come out to a couple of CMG events.
“She got a colleague involved. Between them, they have many years of experience in the industry and work in a supervisory capacity and have often wanted some kind of manual they could refer to as they do their work,” says Wirsig.
“They thought it would be a good fit for the union, since we are trying to help workers improve the working standards in the industry. We wrote the guide collaboratively, and sought information when we needed it from others in the industry. It is truly the first of its kind,” she says.
The factual television production industry has grown rapidly over the past fifteen years but Wirsig says that, because it is relatively new, it’s not very well understood.
“You might even say it’s not very transparent,” she says.
“The guide is meant to help workers and the people who hire them better understand how factual production works, good practices for hiring, decent working standards and healthy workplaces.”
In addition to outlining the structure of the industry, the guide also provides average day rates for a variety of positions within factual TV production.
“It’s pretty easy to read and designed to make it easy to find that little nugget of information you might be looking for at the last minute. We’re really proud of it, and of the workers who were involved in creating it,” says Wirsig.
You can download a copy of the guide on this page on the CMG website.
Last year, the CMG started a campaign to push for collective bargaining in factual TV. To find out more about that campaign click here, or email Karen Wirsig at karen@cmg.ca.
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer May 26-June 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:
- Writers in Canada make less than in 1998 [Toronto Star]
- Canadian writers working harder while earning less [TWUC]
- 5 journalists debunk myths about data reporting [J-Source]
- Quebec media star suspended after investigation says his foreign exploits were invented [Canada.com]
- The CUP crisis, one year later [J-Source]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- A Long, Strange Week in the Life of a Freelance Writer [The Freelancer]
- How to embrace the F-word (Failure) [Freelancers Union]
- 20 tools and resources every journalist should experiment with [Journalism.co.uk]
- Union vote is divisive issue for Gawker Media [Poynter]
- Gawker writers plan to vote on unionizing next week [Capital New York]
- Ask A Freelancer: How Can I Switch Specialties in the Middle of My Career? [The Freelancer]
- Tracey Spicer claims The Guardian is exploiting freelance writers to produce branded content [Mumbrella]
Last week on Story Board:
- Expertise Finder: Quick source search for journalists: Next time you need to find that perfect “expert source” for a story you’re working on, forget Google and head straight for Expertise Finder instead…
- In a freelance slump? Here’s how to dig out: The independent life has its ups and downs, but in 24 years, I have never hit a slump like the one I’m in now. It’s quiet. TOO quiet. Knowing that this, too, shall pass, as it always does, I’ve been doing all the right 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.
