CANADALAND takes on Alberta’s notoriously slow-paying publisher

August 19, 2016 Editor News delayed paymentsfreelance compensationtrouble spotsventure publishing

The media criticism website CANADALAND published a post this week about Venture Publishing's habit of paying its freelancers extremely late. Edmonton writer Jay Smith spoke with a number of freelancers as well as Venture Publishing's CEO and president Ruth Kelly about the publisher's financial troubles.

The publisher, which owns Alberta Venture and Alberta Oil magazines and also publishes a number of corporate publications, is well known among Alberta freelancers for paying contributors between 6 and 15 months after publication.

Story Board covered this topic two and a half years ago in what has become one of our most widely read and commented upon posts. That post is still receiving comments from freelancers who are waiting for delayed payments, with three new comments arriving this month alone.

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Aug 9-15

August 15, 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 the ‘gig economy’ is booming, why is ‘freelance’ still considered a dirty word associated with failure? [National Post] Journalists need…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Aug 2-8

August 08, 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: Public Editor: Should the Globe fix or ban online comments? [Globe and Mail] Why Postmedia is opening a digital development lab in…

CWA Canada adopts Canada’s first guidelines on media internships

August 03, 2016 Editor News cwa canadainternships

By Errol SalamonCWA 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.The CWA Canada Associate Members Steering Committee wrote the 15 internship guidelines. The…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer July 26-Aug 2

August 02, 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: Why demanding to publish a suicide note is callous and unethical [The Tyee] Six months on the Chronicle Herald picket line [J-Source] From The U.S.…

The end of local news? How hedge funds are taking over journalism

July 29, 2016 Editor News cwacwa associate membersnext generation summit

by Ranziba Nehrin, CWA Associate Member[caption id="attachment_12331" align="alignright" width="228"] Next Generation Summit delegates on a labour tour of Detroit, walking away from an impromptu #NewsMatters rally at the Detroit News Building.[/caption]“Like a slow motion car wreck, you see it time and time again.”That's how Emilie Rusch…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer July 19-25

July 25, 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: Kirstine Stewart leaving job as Twitter vice president [Toronto Star] How to be a faster writer [LinkedIn] We need to talk about The Walrus in the…

The Born Freelancer on Averting Deadline Disaster After Data Loss

July 20, 2016 Editor News adviceborn freelancerdata lossdeadlinesfreelance lifethe born freelancer

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. For a writer on a deadline it's probably the worst nightmare imaginable. You have just spent hours honing your latest work. It could be the…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer July 12-18

July 18, 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: Freelancers helped invent digital communications tools to build online networks [J-Source] Briarpatch surpasses fundraising goal [Masthead] Are…

Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer July 5-11

July 11, 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: Postmedia announces plan to reduce $648 million debt [J-Source] Who still believes Postmedia is Canadian controlled? [The Tyee] Shrinking press…