Media Works launch party April 29th
A media/labour project that has been in the works for several months is now ready to go, and there’s going to be a party to celebrate. The Media Works launch party is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29th, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at The Foundery (376 Bathurst St) in Toronto.
Media Works is a project sponsored by CWA-Canada in partnership with CUP and the NCRA. The project has been focused on the creation of a handbook that’s filled with advice for media workers about their rights and how to navigate the world of work as well as tips on how to do great labour reporting. There were also 14 labour reporting articles, audio documentaries and a graphic journalism piece commissioned as part of the project.
The launch event is free to attend and you can reserve your ticket at this Eventbrite page. Drinks and snacks will be served, and there will be a panel discussion with contributors to the handbook about the current state of media work and labour reporting. Copies of the Media Works Handbook itself will be available for free to event attendees.
You can see some of the articles at the Media Works website, or check out the event’s Facebook page for more information. Two Media Works pieces have been published right here on Story Board over the past few weeks: Zoe Melnyk’s post on the moral dilemma of unpaid internships and Sara Tatelman’s piece about the current state of internships at Canadian journalism schools.
Unpaid internships: A moral dilemma for journalism students and the media community
by Zoe Melnyk
Journalism students across Ontario are struggling with the moral dilemma of participating in unpaid internships while trying to build experience for their portfolios.
Journalism students are being taught that simply having a degree isn’t enough to get a job anymore. Students are being pushed into doing internships and the majority of the time these internships are unpaid.
Many students have accepted the idea that paid work must be earned and that unpaid internships are just part of the career. Jessica Vomiero, Ryerson University journalism student, believes in the use of unpaid internships up until the point of graduation.
“We all have to be willing to do a little bit of free work in order to build our portfolios,” says Vomiero.
Ryerson University journalism student, Salmaan Farooqui, also believes that unpaid internships are necessary in order to give students the opportunity to gain experience for their resumes. Although, he says, “right now, a lot of internships are literally the job,” meaning that journalism students are performing the duties of a paid employee, yet students are still expected to take the job without pay in the beginning stages of their career.
“It’s more about proving yourself,” says Farooqui.
The idea that journalists should earn the privilege of being paid is not uncommon amongst students. Many believe that it is a step that everyone must take in order to build a successful career.
Read the rest of this post »
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer April 7-13
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:
- (Dis)liking digital copyright demands [J-Source]
- Canadian journalism schools and the internship issue…work for pay or pay to work? [J-Source]
- Canadian Journalism Foundation announces 2015 Excellence in Journalism Award finalists [J-Source]
- Personal branding in the digital age [J-Source]
- The One Thing Successful Freelancers Do Differently [The Freelance Hustle]
- Three things I learned from the CBC’s Doc Project [J-Source]
- What Can I Deduct — Tax Deduction Flowchart [Rags 2 Reasonable]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- 5 Things Successful Freelancers Do To Keep Their Sanity [Freelancers Union]
- 7 Things Marketers Should Know About Working With Journalists [Contently]
- Are You an Overworked Freelancer? 10 Key Moves to Avoid Burnout [Make A Living Writing]
- BuzzFeed goes literary, announces $12k emerging writers fellowship [Memeburn]
Last week on Story Board:
- The Born Freelancer on Nurturing Your Inner Terrier: You do not need to be born with an inner terrier to survive as a freelancer (I’m proof of that) but you really must work on adopting as many of their admirable attributes as soon as possible…
- SABEW Canada’s Inaugural Best in Business Awards: The Canadian chapter of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) is holding its inaugural awards night next Wednesday, April 15th, at Valdez…
- How Many Hoops Are You Willing To Jump Through?: How many hoops are too many to jump through when you’re applying for a part-time or contract freelance writing gig…
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 on Nurturing Your Inner Terrier
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.
I was clearing and sorting through my archives this week: so many hard copy reports, stories and scripts. I’m not being unduly immodest when I tell you I’ve written – and sold – a lot of good words over the years. Some very good indeed.
I’ve never been rich nor famous but I’ve always made a living as a freelancer throughout many ups and downs of the economy by reinventing myself and energetically throwing myself into different media and various genres. It was refreshing to be reminded of all the scripts and stories I’d written; I’d probably forgotten 80 per cent of them.
But looking back over my accumulated work, I was reminded again and again of lots of early lost opportunities – awesome scripts that almost sold but didn’t; pitches that seemed so promising but never took off. Early on in my career I could never understand why. It took me many years to realize the answer. I’d like to share it with you today.
It came to me while watching a small dog at play.
SABEW Canada’s inaugural Best in Business Awards Night
The Canadian chapter of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) is holding its inaugural awards night next Wednesday, April 15th, at Valdez (606 King Street West).
Among the 26 finalists for the awards are a number of independent and freelance journalists, including Trevor Cole, who is nominated in both the long-term feature and profile categories. The full list of nominees is available here.
Tickets are $10 for SABEW members and $30 for non-members. Cocktails and food will be served starting at 6 p.m.
You can pick up your ticket for the event on their Eventbrite page. Check out SABEW Canada’s website for more information, or contact them via email at sabew@canada.org.
How Many Hoops Are You Willing to Jump Through?
By Ann Douglas
My friend Jen went through a series of 25 interviews before she was ultimately named editor-in-chief of a major consumer magazine. That’s a lot of hoops to jump through in the hope of landing a job—but, then again, it was a pretty nice job, complete with a rather droolworthy salary and a skyscraper office with an amazing view.
But what if the job you’re applying for doesn’t offer the potential for that kind of payoff—or at least not anytime soon? How many hoops are too many to jump through when you’re applying for a part-time or contract freelance writing gig?
It’s a question I started mulling over recently, after stumbling across a rather over-the-top writer/editor recruitment ad on a marketing agency website. Not only did the company in question expect writers and editors to bring “intense joy, abundant love, and infinite gratitude” to the job application table. They also expected them to “pay their dues” by going through a rigorous, six-step job application process, one that involved…
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Mar 31-April 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?
From Canada:
- In science reporting, when does background become baggage? [J-Source]
- Black Press folds two Vancouver Island newspapers [J-Source]
- Finalists’ names for Atlantic Journalism Awards [Canadian Magazines]
- Winnipeg Free Press to launch micro-payment paywall [J-Source]
- John Furlong drops defamation lawsuit against Georgia Straight contributor Laura Robinson [Georgia Straight]
- Furlong drops defamation suit, but freelance journalist will pursue countersuit [Globe and Mail]
- Monthly Career Checklist for Freelancers [The Freelance Hustle]
- Seven habits for recording interviews [luigibenetton.com]
From The U.S. and beyond:
- 4 Ways Freelancers Can Protect Their Work From Disappearing [The Freelancer]
- A super PAC for journalists? [publicintegrity.org] (via @mediagazer)
- How to be persistent without being a pest [Freelancers Union]
- A Tired Brain Could Actually Be More Creative [Smithsonian.com]
- Track Your Pitches: Use This Spreadsheet to Land More Online Writing Jobs [The Write Life]
- Negotiate like a pro [Freelancers Union]
- What freelancers can learn from kids [Freelancers Union]
- 15 tips for newsgathering via Twitter [sarahmarshall.io] (via @journochat)
- 22 tips for working writers [Medium]
- Inside NPR’s podcasting strategy [Poynter]
Last week on Story Board:
- Canadian J-Schools and the Internship Issue: Work for Pay or Pay to Work?: “Volunteer to do something which is at least somewhat related to your expertise,” Stephen Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada, urged unemployed youth in a widely criticized November 2014 speech….
- 2015 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards Seeking Submissions: If you’ve written about social justice issues this year, you’re eligible to submit your work for the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards…
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.
Canadian journalism schools and the internship issue… Work for pay or pay to work?
by Sara Tatelman
“Volunteer to do something which is at least somewhat related to your expertise,” Stephen Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada, urged unemployed youth in a widely criticized November 2014 speech. More often than not, following this advice would mean undertaking an unpaid internship rather than helping at a food bank, and these internships are hugely problematic for the young workers who accept, or who are forced to accept, them. Many journalism students can’t graduate without interning, and numerous factors ensure their work will remain unpaid.
For starters, provincial labour laws concerning internship remuneration often exclude students in programs that require placements for graduation. Ontario’s Employment Standards Act states that unpaid internships should “encourage employers to provide students … with practical training to complement their classroom learning.” Such internships are especially common in journalism schools, but while on-the-job training makes students better reporters, it doesn’t make them any more likely to find employment.
Howard Bernstein instituted journalism internships at Toronto’s Ryerson University in the early 1990s. Journalism programs, he says, “know that when they take those students’ money, there are no jobs for 90-95% of them.”
In a recent phone interview, Bernstein suggested that undergraduate programs be eliminated entirely. “If you did away with most places in [journalism schools], there’d be more room for good internships,” he says. Moreover, most students still pay tuition, so instead of only working for free, they are paying for the privilege.
Read the rest of this post »
2015 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards Seeking Submissions
If you’ve written about social justice issues this year, you’re eligible to submit your work for the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards.
There are two awards — one for books and one for magazines — both of which are given to freelance writers of non-fiction on social justice-related topics. Books and magazines that have not yet been completed for publication are also eligible for submission.
The book award is for $5000 and the magazine award is for $2000. Both awards may be split into two equal prizes if the jury decides there are two submissions of equal merit. Applicants must be residents of Canada and spend 70% of their work time as self-employed freelance writers in order to be eligible for the awards.
The closing date for submissions is Friday, June 12, 2015 at 5 PM PST.
Check out the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Awards website for more information or to submit your work for an award.
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Mar 24-30
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:
- CBC announces 244 national cuts: A timeline [J-Source]
- Nominees announced for SABEW Best In Business Awards [Masthead]
- CAJ & AKFC announce two inaugural International Development Reporting Fellows [CAJ]
- Memo: CBC to cut 244 jobs across Canada, including 144 English [J-Source]
- Photojournalist Peter Power on freelancing, funerals and famous photos [J-Source]
- Competition Bureau clears Postmedia deal for Sun Media papers [Globe and Mail]
- Time, money and the freelance life [The Editors’ Weekly]
- Is Canadian journalism experiencing a generational war? [J-Source]
- When Parenting Becomes A Call To Freelance Writing [Newscred] (via @anndouglas)
From The U.S. and beyond:
- What Should Freelancers Do to Write for In-Flight Magazines [The Freelancer]
- A Blueprint for How to Make J-School Matter (Again) [Nieman Report]
- 6 Podcasts Every Freelancer Should Listen To [The Freelancer]
- How freelancer Jen A. Miller uses Twitter as her professional water cooler [Poynter]
- 6 Ways Digital Journalism Is Very Different From Print Journalism [The Freelancer]
Last week on Story Board:
- The Cost of Saying Yes to Every Gig: Opportunity cost dictates that even when you make the best choice possible, you lose out on the benefits of the next best option…
- Freelance Finances — Get Money Awesome!: Tax season is here, freelancers. If the thought of balancing your books and filing your taxes makes you shudder, CMG Freelance wants to help…
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.
