Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer August 25-31

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:

• Ottawa formally petitioning for Mohamed Fahmy's release [Toronto Star]
• Egyptian court sentences Canadian journalist Fahmy to three years in prison [Globe and Mail]
• Tips for Breaking Into Travel Writing [PWAC Toronto]
• Freelancers' Fall Checklist [Living Freelance]
• Things You Can Do To Grow Your Business When You Only Have 10 Minutes [The Freelance Hustle]

 

From The U.S. and beyond:

• An expert's forecast -- Canada will have few if any print newspapers by 2025 [Poynter]
• How Freelancers Are Fighting For Their Labor Rights [Fast Company]
• When journalists write for free it hurts our democracy [The Conversation]
• Writing for Corporate Blogs: How to Get Hired as a Freelancer [The Write Life]
• NO to the Huffington Post, YES to these sites that pay writers [Alyssa Royse]
• Crowdfunded journalism site Contributoria folds [Politico]
• 10 Mistakes That’ll Ruin Your Freelancing Career [The Freelancer]
• "The rapacious Ms. Huffington seems to believe that journalism skills are worth nothing." [Romenesko]
• Why It Benefits Freelancers to Be Inflexible [The Freelancer]
• Will Unionizing Gawker And Vice Help Freelance Writers Earn A Living Wage? [Forbes]
• The 5 Commandments of Pitching for Freelance Writing Gigs [Freelance Writers Online]
• A year after James Foley: Safety advice for conflict reporters [Journalism.co.uk]

 

Last week on Story Board:

• The Problem of Press Trips: Freelance writers are masters of ingenuity. We have to be. Decreasing wages and increasing demands have made full-time freelance writing a losing proposition. Those of us who wish to remain in the field quickly develop strategies to make it work: We stack assignments, boost our incomes with part-time jobs, and network like crazy...

 

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.