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:

• Memo: newsroom culture at the Globe [J-Source]
• CanLit’s $100,000 controversy: Canadian writers and publishers react [The Province]
• Bad blood: The Taylor Swift photography contract [Montreal Gazette]
• Postmedia reports major drop in revenues, Conrad Black scolds leaders [Globe and Mail]
• Pulitzer-winning journalist Paul Watson quits Toronto Star over ‘refusal to publish’ story on Franklin expedition [National Post]
• The Freelance Life with Maryam Siddiqi and Aaron Broverman [J-Source]
• Maple Leafs blogger’s tax-loss case highlights difficulties of independence [Globe and Mail]
• Peter Mansbridge drops support for Mother Canada project [CBC]
• Journalists Are Banned from Stephen Harper's Events and It’s Stupid Nonsense [Vice]
• Obituary: Jocelyn Laurence brought out the best in writers [Globe and Mail]

 

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Ira Glass has acquired ownership of all of ‘This American Life’ [Robert Feder]
• So, You Want To Be a Freelancer. [The Toast]
• Why we're not photographing the Foo Fighters [Washington City Paper]
• Byline sees a new wave in crowdfunded journalism [Journalism.co.uk]
• Freelance journalists using crowdfunding to launch investigative news project [STV News]
• Top 5 Freelance Pet Peeves [Freelancers Union]
• App for journalists: Yallo, for recorded phone calls [Journalism.co.uk]
• How I Turbocharged My Freelance Writing Productivity [Write to Done]
• When journalists take a vacation, do they actually take a break? [Poynter]
• How can crowdfunding support media business models? [The Media Briefing]
• As podcasts grow, the freelance economy takes shape [Nieman Lab]
• 5 qualities of a solopreneur [Freelancers Union]

 

Last week on Story Board:

• From research to story: Advice for writers: At the recent Canadian Science Writers Association Meeting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, two gurus of science journalism, Tom Hayden and Peter Calamai shared their sage advice on the art of turning research into a story...

 

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.