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:

• Public Editor: Should the Globe fix or ban online comments? [Globe and Mail]
• Why Postmedia is opening a digital development lab in Kitchener-Waterloo [J-Source]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Can independent community-based news save local journalism? [Journalism.co.uk]
• 5 ways to avoid working with clients who don't pay [Freelancers Union]
• Note to writers: Don't read the comments [Freelancers Union]
• The Self-Employed Person's Guide to Getting Credit [Wisebread]
• Are you ready to quit your day job? Ten questions to ask yourself [Freelancers Union]
• Ditching the DSLR: Why a BBC video journalist filmed only on a mobile phone for a month [journalism.co.uk]

Last week on Story Board:

• The 3 R's of freelancing: Reuse, Repurpose, Resell: You’ve heard that clichéd line, “the gift that keeps giving.” I’m starting to view my stories that way. If I resell an article I’ve written, or repurpose the story and sell a second or third rendition of that story, I am gifting myself—and putting extra money in the bank...
• CWA Canada adopts Canada’s first guidelines on media internships: CWA Canada’s National Representative Council unanimously adopted Canada’s first guidelines on educational media internships at the union’s annual meeting in Calgary from April 29-30 to establish fair standards across the media industry...

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.