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:

• Ontario Tuition Reforms Could Spell Disaster For Student Newspapers, Unions [Huffington Post]
• Protecting the workers of the future with portable benefits [Policy Options]
• CWA Associate Members stand in solidarity with Concordia Journalism Student Association [CMG Freelance]
• Unpaid internships no more: step one [The Concordian]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• 6 Client Red Flags Freelancers Should Run From [Freelance Writing Jobs]
• Freelance Wars has given us a year of hilarious, oh-too-true GIFs about nightmare clients and spec work – and now it's over [Digital Arts]
• No, tech companies shouldn’t fund journalism [CJR]
• Why freelancers should embrace slow travel [Freelancers Union]
• Six pieces of honest advice for freelance journalists [Journalism.co.uk]
• Netherlands: Photojournalists on strike to demand decent rates [IFJ]
• The 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2019 [The Write Life]

Recently on Story Board:

• Notes from the Decent Work City conference in Seoul: I was part of a panel of speakers who hailed from such diverse locations as Vienna, Austria, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Tauranga, New Zealand. Each had a story to tell about how their cities have implemented policies aimed at creating fair workplaces...
• Entries open for Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award: Canadian photojournalists with less than five years of experience can now apply for the tenth annual Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award. This six-week paid internship at The Canadian Press head office in Toronto will take place sometime between April and September 2019...

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.