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:

• Hubert Lacroix reappointed as President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada for another five-year term [Canadian Heritage]
• Up against the squeeze: Measures to help CBC/Radio-Canada meet its mandate [CMG] (via @karenwirsig)
• Canadian ad spending to increase by billions by 2016: Report [Masthead]
• Magazines Canada Buy 2 Get 1 Free promotion offers 190 titles in 2012  [Canadian Magazines]
• In media we trust [J-Source]
• Optimism evident in net number of magazine starts [Canadian Magazines]
• OpenFile suspends publication to prepare for upcoming changes [J-Source]
• Rogers rebrands & relaunches recently acquired Canadian Health & Lifestyle magazine [Canadian Magazines]

 

From the U.S. and beyond:

• New York Times union members stage brief walkout to protest contract negotiations [Poynter]
• Mobile news habit grows, creating new business opportunity with old challenges [Poynter]
• How to Promote Your Book Like an Indie Rock Star [Mediabistro]
• Why a NYT journalist wrote a self-published e-book [Mark Oppenheimer (via @Poynter)
• What BuzzFeed’s evolution says about the future of longform journalism  [Poynter]
• Alt-Weeklies Struggle to Reinvent Themselves for the Digital Age [Mediashift] (via @NiemanReports)
• In journalism’s quest for speed and quantity, there’s still a place for quality [Nieman Lab]
• 6 tips for getting gigs as a freelance journalist [Poynter]
• Beyond Ads: How Newspapers Survive In Digital [MediaPost] (via @natalieturvey)
• After email, getting news is the most popular activity on smartphones, tablets [Poynter]

 

From Story Board last week:

• The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #3 – Suzanne Boles: In this regular feature, Story Board asks Canadian writers to share a few details about their work habits and their strategies for navigating the ups and downs of freelance life...
• The Born Freelancer on how to get a great sounding interview – Part 4: Yesterday I reviewed some basic mic handling tips. Today I share some final general thoughts with you on the mechanics of successfully recording quality sound interviews...
• The Born Freelancer on how to get a great sounding interview – Part 3: LAST WEEK I wrote about the importance of microphones in obtaining the best quality sound possible for your recorded interviews. Today a few more thoughts on effectively using them...