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: 

• News health bolstered by local collaborations, expert’s work shows [J-Source]
• Province using rarely used power to help end Chronicle Herald strike [CBC]
• Federal Court Finds in Favour of Writers' Rights [TWUC]
• The Nova Scotia government is ordering an Industrial Inquiry Commission in the Chronicle Herald labour dispute [J-Source]
• This Canadian rock star and author is starting a monthly print paper for his Toronto neighborhood [Nieman Lab]
• Automatic transcription services compared: Which should you use? [Pop Up Podcasting]
• When rural newspapers fall prey to predatory ownership, local content goes fast [J-Source]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Writers union sues Ebony for failing to pay $200G 50 freelancers [New York Daily News]
• Why Millennials Should Lead (and are leading!) the Next Labor Movement [New York Times]
• No, You Can’t Use My Photos On Your Brand’s Instagram For Free [Petapixel]
• How not to freelance: Or, why I finally admitted that I was a business owner [Freelancers Union]
• Getting started freelancing? Here are 12 quick tips [Freelancers Union]
• Student journalists are our future — we should start treating them like it [The Nation]
• 3 Ways Practicing Detachment Can Promote Writing Productivity [The Write Life]
• More evidence that freelancers are stronger together [Freelancers Union]
• A Smarter Way to Manage “Pick Your Brain” Requests [The Write Life]

Recently on Story Board:

• Media Mixer -- Protecting our sources and ourselves: While working on “Cyberwar” with Vice, filmmaker Dylan Reibling contacted a source for a story. The source was a hacker who had attended the Black Hat information security conference. Shortly after Vice e-mailed him, that same source got a call from the FBI...
• Chris Enns talks financial planning for freelancers: Variable income is one of the biggest challenges many freelancers have to contend with. And Chris Enns understands it all too well. As an opera singer, he struggled himself with the best way to handle his money. Those struggles led him to learn more about finances and eventually get certified as a financial planner...

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.