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:

• What is Journalism? The CAJ’s ethics committee takes a stab at definition [J-Source]
• Laid-off contributors to Montreal Mirror start up online arts website CultMTL [Canadian Mags]
• Star Media Group pulls the plug on The Onion/A.V. Club [J-Source]
• How Paula Todd found Karla Homolka and got her photograph: Macleans [J-Source]

From the U.S. and beyond:

• Interviews granted only with quote approval are now the default position for campaigns, gov't agencies [New York Times] (via @romenesko)
• New York Magazine publishes its first ebook, with Byliner [Nieman Lab]
• E-books Are Booming, and Still Sort of Small [All Things D] (via @Mediagazer)
• Why paywall journalism is changing how journalists write [mUmBRELLA] (via @Mediagazer)
• The Colorado shooting and the crowdsourced future of news [GigaOM]
• NPR hires lobbyists as GOP targets public broadcasting funds [The Hill] (via @mediagazer)
• Chicago Tribune hires veteran newsman to help develop and implement changes at Journatic and the Tribune [JimRomenesko.com]
• College Newspapers Go Digital-First, Innovate To Stay Relevant [Huffington Post](via @mediagazer)
• The Return of the Human: Why Tech Companies Are Tapping Journalism Talent [PBS.org] (via @mediagazer)

From Story Board last week:

• Finding Karla’s Paula Todd talks ebooks and the future of journalism: When Paula Todd discovered rumours online that convicted killer Karla Homolka was living in Guadeloupe and was teaching young children, she was compelled to act. Todd, a freelance journalist and professor of journalism at Seneca at York, felt she had a professional obligation to try and find out if those rumours were true: both for ethical reasons as well as to bring hard facts into the still-fierce debate surrounding Homolka’s journey through the Canadian judicial system...

---

Spot a story you think we should include in next week's Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca.

---