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:

• CBC to cut a further $28M from next year’s spending plans [Globe and Mail]
• Guild fighting to avoid more CBC/Radio-Canada programming cuts [CMG] (via @karenatcmg)
• The payoff: Learning to say ‘No’ [Money Sense] (via @albertamags)
• Postmedia ramps up its paywall push [Globe and Mail] (via @sladurantaye]
• Internships and the intersection of class struggle and opportunity [J-Source]
• Thirteen Habits of Highly Effective Freelance Journalists [The Tyee]
• Douglas & McIntyre owner files for bankruptcy [CBC]
• Winners of the Canadian Online Publishing Awards announced [Masthead]
• The Globe and Mail goes live with paywall and Globe Unlimited subscription service [J-Source]

 

From the U.S. and beyond:

• New York Times and union reach ‘conceptual agreement’ on 5-year contract [Romenesko]
• Penguin and Random House merger may be finalised in two weeks [The Guardian] (via @timfalconer)
• The paywall prevents a deeper downturn at the NYT [Columbia Journalism Review] (via @journochat)
• The world's worst typos – in pictures [The Guardian] (via @luigibenetton)
• How one geek just outdid the entire publishing industry [timwindsor.com] (via @mediagazer)
• Beats vs obsessions, columns vs. blogs, and other angels dancing on pins [Scientific American] (via @NiemanLab)
• Bowker: Number of self-published books up 287% since 2006 [paidContent] (via @NiemanLab)
• New York Times sends ‘ethics reminder' to freelancers [Romenesko]
• Younger Americans’ Reading and Library Habits [Pew] (via @NiemanLab)

 

From Story Board last week:

• Experience or exploitation? Conference ramps up debate on unpaid internships: The culture sector, long known for its precarious working conditions, is shaping up to be more arduous for its workers. On October 19, a mix of students, professionals, artists and union leaders converged in Toronto to talk labour injustice at the ‘Will Work for Exposure’ conference at Ryerson University...

• The Born Freelancer’s guide to healthy eating — Pt 2: Last week, I started exploring the dietary pitfalls of the freelance lifestyle. Today I continue my conversation with Heather Douglas, a Registered Dietitian currently employed in-house at Loblaws supermarkets...