Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Feb 28-Mar 6

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:

• Toronto Star Public Editor: Democracy depends on confidential sources [J-Source]
• Off the Page with journalist Simon Diotte [Magazine Awards]
• Opinion: Student journalism can help save our news media ecosystem [J-Source]
• Canadian Unions for Freelancers: An Introduction [Living Freelance]
• Altruism fuels union’s fight for unpaid freelancers [CWA Canada]
• Author Deborah Campbell wins Freedom to Read Award [TWUC]
• Toronto conference will explore local news woes and solutions [J-Source]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Want to write full time? Get cozy with these 5 financial realities [The Write Life]
• Value-based pricing: A smarter way to set freelance writing rates [The Write Life]
• 10 tools to tackle common problems journalists face [CJR]
• Why intersectionality matters for freelancers [Freelancers Union]
• Trump Bump Grows Into Subscription Surge [The Street]
• 3 ways to introduce stability into your freelance life [Freelancers Union]
• Here’s why journalists stay in the business [Poynter]
• Press freedom organizations are teaming up to start a news site [Poynter]
• Writing and Money: An Interview With Scratch Author Manjula Martin [The Write Life]
• Why every freelancer should have an “Oh, Sh*t!” fund [Freelancers Union]
• Tool for journalists: FotoForensics, for verifying images [Journalism.co.uk]

Recently on Story Board:

• New U.K. report highlights the challenges of freelancing: New data confirm that the number of freelance journalists has increased across the UK since 2000 and their pay is lower than the national average...
• Freelancers' social night in Vancouver March 7: Vancouver-area freelancers, come out for a freelancers’ social night on Tuesday, March 7th at 6 p.m. at Central City Brewing...

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.