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: 

• Ask a Mentor: How do you network with journalists? [J-Source]
• 5 books to whet journalism students’ appetites [J-Source]
• Your Guide to Fall 2014 Magazine Writing Contests [Magazine Awards]
• Transcontinental shuts down 20 weeklies, lays off 80 employees [J-Source]

 

From the U.S. and beyond:

• The Media Must Find a Way to Support Freelancers Who Risk Their Lives [The New Republic] (via @Mediabistro)
• 30 Time Management Tips For Work-Life Balance [Forbes]
• Don’t work with jerks  [Freelancers Union]
• The Freelancer's Guide to Time Management [Lifehacker]
• Ask a Freelancer: Can You Make a Living Writing Online Features? [Contently]
• How to avoid lots of (unpaid) revisions [Freelancers Union]
• Freelance journalist Steven Sotloff reportedly executed by ISIS [Poynter] 

 

Last week on Story Board:

• Tasty buckets: identifying your motivations as a first step towards freelance business planning: Recently I had the pleasure of attending “Courage Camp,” a master class on the business of freelancing. Run by freelance journalist Christie Aschwanden, with fellow instructors Bruce Barcott(journalist and author), Laura Helmuth (science and health editor at Slate), and Julia Galef, (President and Cofounder of the Center for Applied Rationality), the workshop was held August 24-27, 2014, at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Mountain Research Station....
• Alternative Funding Models for Independent Media: Canadian independent media organizations face a critical question in light of the economic difficulties currently confronting all forms of media: ‘is independent media financially viable and sustainable?'...

 

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.