Thomson Reuters Moves 22 Canadian Jobs to India

December 15, 2011 Editor News canadian media guildoffshoringthomson reuterstrouble spots

The Thomson Reuters newsroom in Toronto will lose a third of its employees this spring, when the news agency will offshore its online desk. Management informed employees today that 17 permanent and 5 temporary positions will move to Bangalore, India, in March. This will reportedly leave five online desk employees in Toronto.

The Canadian Media Guild, which counts these Toronto-based Thomson Reuters employees as its members, announced the news on its site today. Glenn Gray, staff representative of the CMG, had this to say:

“It’s really disappointing that Thomson Reuters—a profitable Canadian company—is offshoring jobs to pay people a pittance. It’s not in the interest of our members, or of Canadians, for employers to throw people out of work and put downward pressure on our wages.”

Thomson Reuters, though headquartered in New York City and operational in 100 countries, has strong ties to Canada. The Thomson Family's Woodbridge Company owns 53 per cent of the group, and Thomson Reuters was ranked as Canada's "leading corporate brand" in the 2010 Interbrand Best Canadian Brands ranking.

Blogger must pay $2.5 million after judge decides she’s not a journalist

December 09, 2011 Editor Journalism anonymous sourcesbloggingjournalismlibelshield lawstrouble spotswigmore test

Freelancers, here's something to consider. If you're not affiliated with a particular publication, are you still a journalist? If you self-publish investigative pieces, or really anything that could be deemed defamatory, are you protected by the law?Crystal Cox, a Portland-based writer, is the target of a lawsuit from Obsidian Finance Group,…

Forget about 15 minutes—Canadian visual artists want their five per cent

November 29, 2011 Editor Compensation bill c-11carfacfreelance contractsgetting paidroyaltiestrouble spotsvisual artists

Imagine if, to sell your writing or other media work, you had to give up all re-sale rights, knowing full well that the person you were selling it to would earn far more than you had because of their access to a wider market. If what you're producing is one-of-a-kind, nearly impossible to re-create, and took years of work, it's a maddening…

Kindle self-publishers, beware

October 31, 2011 Editor News amazonebooksjames crawfordkindle direct publishingself-publishingtrouble spots

Kindle Direct Publishing has quickly become a popular platform for authors to promote and sell their own work. Whether it's used to publish full-length books or Singles, KDP lets authors bypass traditional publishing channels and market their writing directly, up to and including setting their own prices. But in KDP's fine print is a clause that…

New food-industry site mimics HuffPost‘s “influence as compensation” model

October 25, 2011 Editor Compensation compensationfood and drink digitalhuffington postjim romeneskotrouble spots

If it worked for the Huffington Post, why can't it work for Food & Drink Digital? The latter publication's public relations manager, Jeremy Vara, is sending a message to potential contributor that asks for them to share their expertise with Food & Drink Digital's "exclusive audience." Jim Romenesko posted the email he received from Vara in full on…

CWG/CMG representing Toronto Star and The Grid freelancers in talks with senior management

October 05, 2011 Editor Compensation freelance contractsthe gridtoronto startorstartrouble spots

Do you freelance at the Toronto Star or The Grid? There have been talks between the Canadian Writers Group/Canadian Media Guild and the Star's senior management about the new freelance agreement at the paper, which contains a couple of, in our view, unnecessary and troublesome clauses. The most recent meeting took place in late August, and…

Increasingly ill-defined roles translate to lower rates for freelance editors

September 16, 2011 Editor Journalism editingfreelancer ratestrouble spots

"When hired to 'edit,' are you hired to be a developmental editor? A copyeditor? A proofreader? A compositor? Is what you are being paid commensurate with what you are being asked to do?" Freelance editors are hurting themselves and their peers by not distinguishing between different editing roles when negotiating with clients, says a post on An…

UBC ends deal with Access Copyright, freelance writers lose out

September 12, 2011 Editor News access copyrightcompensationcopyrightprofessional writers association of canadatrouble spots

Joining more than a dozen other large post-secondary institutions across the country, the University of British Columbia has ended a long-standing contract with Access Copyright, a non-profit organization that aims to guarantee fair compensation for writers and publishers when their works are copied. UBC says that the organization was demanding…

Another delay for U.S. freelancers awaiting compensation

August 29, 2011 Editor News class action suitscompensationrobertson casetrouble spots

While the Robertson Settlement saga is still trucking along here (and the deadline to submit claims under second settlement is approaching), our freelancing friends south of the border are getting nowhere fast with their class-action suit against against numerous publishers. Just this month, an appeals court rejected a settlement struck in 2005,…

Huffington Post Canada on “content mills”

July 20, 2011 Editor Journalism content farmingfreelancer rateshuffington posthuffington post canadatrouble spots

Well, this is something. In a post on HuffPo Canada, freelance writer Bob Beaty discusses the value of freelance content sites and asks writers to weigh in on them too. The conclusion of the article, in brief, is that while writers are severely underpaid by these sites and are dissuaded from putting any personality into their work to keep it…