National Magazine Awards Foundation announces new initiatives

September 20, 2016 Editor News awardsnational magazine awardsnmaf

The National Magazine Awards Foundation announced a number of changes this week. The foundation is responsible for the National Magazine Awards, which celebrate their 40th anniversary this year.

In a press release yesterday, the foundation said that the changes are designed to "maintain and advance the NMAF’s 40-year status as the gold standard of creative excellence."

Changes include refined awards categories, expanded digital publishing awards and an effort to recognize Canadian creators working internationally.

The NMAF also announced several new board members, including Derek Finkle, co-founder of Story Board and founder of the Canadian Writers Group, a literary agency that represents Canadian freelance writers.

More details about the changes to the National Magazine Awards are available on the Canadian Magazines blog.

Last fall, several large magazine publishers -- including Rogers, St. Joseph Media and The Walrus -- pulled away from the National Magazine Awards and announced their intention to start a new awards program.

News about that new program is expected later this week.

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Sept 13-19

September 19, 2016 Editor News newsoff the wire

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: Walrus fiction editor quits over magazine's push for "family-friendly" stories [Globe and Mail] Anti-TPP day of action highlights threat to…

Toronto agency creates awards show for freelancers in advertising

September 16, 2016 Editor News freelance awardsfu awards

A Toronto ad agency noticed that freelancers don't get enough recognition within the advertising industry. So they decided to do something about it.Co-op Advertising created the the FU Awards -- "FU" stands for "Freelancers Unite" -- to give people in the advertising world an opportunity to pay tribute to the exceptional freelancers they…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Sept 7-12

September 12, 2016 Editor News newsoff the wire

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: Funding in-depth journalism in a time of scarcity [Medium] UBC gets $200,000 government grant for new Canadian journalism outlet [J-Source] The…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Aug 30-Sept 6

September 06, 2016 Editor News newsoff the wire

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: St. John’s Telegram blasts sexist ‘trolls’ after backlash over feminism article [J-Source] What would journalists do if they could do…

CMG Freelance members: Get your own dedicated login to Lynda.com

August 31, 2016 Editor News lynda.comprofessional development

Good news, CMG Freelance members: you've now got easier access to one of your union's largest and most valuable professional development opportunities. The Canadian Media Guild announced this week that members can now get their own dedicated accounts to Lynda.com. The online service offers video training tutorials in creative fields like…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Aug 23-29

August 29, 2016 Editor News newsoff the wire

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: If we want true images of events, we need to let photographers do their job [Globe and Mail] Exposing newsroom culture at the Toronto…

CBC Advises Freelancers on How to Get Paid in the Event of a Canada Post Labour Dispute

August 26, 2016 Editor News adcbcfreelance compensationnews

The union representing Canada Post employees issued 72-hour strike notice yesterday. As a result, there may be a disruption in postal services across Canada starting early next week. 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.…

Media interns: Share your experiences

August 23, 2016 Editor News internshipsunpaid internships

Did you work a media internship this summer... or in the recent past? We'd like to hear about your experiences. Errol Salamon is a freelance writer and the work and labour editor of J-Source. He's also the author of a series of columns on Story Board called E-Lancer Writes. For his next column, Errol is planning to explore media internships in…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Aug 16-22

August 22, 2016 Editor News newsoff the wire

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: Globe and Mail, Ryerson, UBC nominated for Online Journalism Awards [J-Source] Liberals probe unpaid internships in federal government [CBC] CWA…