Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?

From Canada:

• China bans the Toronto Star [Toronto Star]
• Canada's writers urge parliament to make real changes on copyright [TWUC]
• Dear journalists of Canada: Start reporting climate change as an emergency [J-Source]
• One of Canada's most famous journalists is heading to CNN to cover Trump full-time [Daily Hive]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• The 4 hard truths every freelancer needs to hear [Freelancers Union]
• 9 Email Newsletters for Writers (That You’ll Actually Want to Open) [The Write Life]
• Is your plate too full? Strategies for staying sane [Freelancers Union]
• Here are the winners of the 2019 National Magazine Awards [J-Source]
• Artists Need Unions, Too: The Role of Organized Labor in Creative Industries [Union Track]
• Five free proofreading tools that every journalist should know about [Journalism.co.uk]
• The Tools, Tech and ‘Tude You Need to Freelance from Anywhere [The Freelancer]
• Nice niche: How to build and keep up with a beat [Open Notebook]

Recently on Story Board:

• The Born Freelancer on Workplace Injuries: I know most people don’t normally associate the phrase “workplace injuries” with the act of writing. But a non-scientific anecdotal survey among several of my freelancing colleagues recently revealed their following injuries which they definitely associate with their work...
• Toronto game workers mixer June 10: Problems at work? Not sure what to do about it? Come out for an informal get together with colleagues in the industry. Chat with fellow game workers about what’s happening in the Toronto games industry and meet local Game Workers Unite reps to talk about how you can make your work life better...

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.