Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Feb 27-March 5

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: 

• Government prolongs the agony for newspapers... just a bit [J-Source]
• Budget media provisions disappointing, industry says [Globe and Mail]
• Andrew Cash: Public policy must create standards for independent workers [Vancouver Sun]
• Journalists must change with the times when covering disability issues, advocates urge [J-Source]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Edit tests are out of control, say journalists in search of jobs [CJR]
• 13 Common, Clunky Sentence Structures That Weaken Your Writing [The Write Life]
• Freelancers win a victory with #EbonyOwes [Freelancers Union]
• When Do Freelance Writers Need to Think About Setting Up Their Own Website? [Freelance Writing Jobs]
• Canada pledges $50 million to local journalism. Will it help? [CJR]
• How photojournalism can survive the digital revolution (and your short attention span) [Nieman Lab]
• The Difficult Truth About Writing When You Have Kids [The Write Life]
• 4 Questions Freelancers Should Ask Before Accepting Their Next Gig [The Freelancer]
• NWU Reaches Final Settlement Agreement with Ebony [National Writers Union]
• Navigating Conflicts of Interest [The Open Notebook]
• On the Move: Tips for Freelancers Without a Permanent Workspace [Freelancers Union]

Recently on Story Board:

• Thriving in the brave new world of work: “The future of work” has become a hot topic for lectures and conferences, the most recent of which is Brave New Work, Simon Fraser University’s 2018 community summit, currently underway in Vancouver...
• Freelancers reach settlement agreement with Ebony magazine: The National Writers Union has reached a settlement agreement with Ebony magazine over its failure to pay freelancers for their work...

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.