Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?

From Canada:

• Postmedia announces refinancing transaction [Postmedia]
• A millennial's perspective on the future of journalism [J-Source]
• Competition for third annual Fraser MacDougall Prize now open [National NewsMedia Council]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• How I Failed at Freelancing -- And Why I'm Glad I Did [The Freelancer]
• Get Paid to Write Personal Finance Articles: 18 Outlets to Pitch Now [The Write Life]
• The politics of criticism [CJR]
• Pacific Standard is shutting down, cut off from its major foundation funder [Nieman Lab]
• You don't have to be a culture zombie to pitch on trend [The Freelancer]
• 5 ways to legitimize your freelance business [Freelancers Union]
• Help clients discover your services with a new feature on LinkedIn [LinkedIn]
• How journalists' jobs affect their mental health [Journalist's Resource]

Recently on Story Board:

• Lessons from the Remaking Game Work panel: Labour issues are quickly becoming the norm in the gaming industry. Cultural Workers Organize brought together a panel recently to explore some of the different approaches to alleviating the ongoing stresses that game workers face...

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.