Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer June 21-27

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:

• Columnist's firing at B.C.-based Chinese paper stirs press-freedom concerns [Globe and Mail]
• Briarpatch magazine says it is on the brink, "running on empty" [Canadian Magazines]
• What can media do better in reporting on missing Indigenous women? [CMG]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• 10 Fun Writing Ideas to Help You Get Creative This Summer [The Write Life]
• AdBlock Plus's revenue model was just ruled illegal by a German court [Business Insider]
• 3 Skills That Will Help You Get More Freelance Writing Jobs [The Write Life]
• 5 tips for freelancing while parenting [Freelancers Union]
• How journalists practice self-care while covering tough stories [Poynter]
• The "no shame" formula for rising from failure [Freelancers Union]

Last week on Story Board:

• CBC Advises Freelancers on How to Get Paid in the Event of a Canada Post Labour Dispute: There may be a disruption in postal services across Canada as soon as July 2nd, 2016 and the CBC has advised us on some options aimed at making sure freelance contributors who currently receive their paycheques in the mail can make alternate arrangements...
• The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #30 - M. Jay Smith: M. Jay Smith is an Edmonton-based writer of non-fiction and poetry. Her writing has been published by such outlets as Reader’s Digest, Adbusters, the Los Angeles Times, and Canadian Running magazine...

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.