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:

• CRTC hearings on Bell Media deal drama worth watching [The Globe and Mail] (via @sladurantaye)
• Magazine finalists named in Jack Webster Awards for BC journalism [Canadian Mags]
• CRTC to hold public hearing to renew CBC/Radio-Canada’s licences [CRTC]  (via ‏@karenatcmg)
• Monocle launches internet radio program about...print [Canadian Mags]
• Canadians up TV watching, radio listening and downloading from the Internet [Vancouver Sun] (via ‏@jsource)

From the U.S. and beyond:

• Shutting out a world of digital distraction [Guardian] (via @paolopp)
• How to write a Twitter bio that’ll make you stand out as a journalist [Poynter]
• Back to school means back to work [Word Count] (via ‏@Mastheadmag)
• Newspaper restructuring — think steel, cars and airlines [GigaOM] (via @mathewi)
• News orgs want journalists who are great at a few things, rather than good at many [Nieman Lab]
• Can Apple, Amazon and Google's new mini-tablets revive the news industry? [Guardian] (via @russellgragg)
• Diary of a Mad Fact-Checker: Precision only gets you so far [Oxford American] (via @russellgragg)

 

From Story Board last week:

• Some progress for Toronto Star freelancers: At a meeting last week with a coalition of freelancers, Toronto Star management confirmed that it has removed a clause from the contract for contributors to the Grid. The clause was intended to shield the publication from libel, placing more responsibility on the freelancer...
• The Born Freelancer on basic recording on a budget 101 – Part 2: Last week I discussed my recommendation — Audacity software — for recording on your computer. How do I get sound into my computer? This will depend of course upon your computer...
• The Born Freelancer on basic recording on a budget 101 – Part 3:  Over the past week, I’ve covered recording software and how to get sound into your computer. What if my computer doesn't have an analogue sound input? Increasingly, laptops and desktop computers no longer offer the option of inputs for analogue sound as discussed in my previous post. You will need to buy some additional gear. I will try to keep the cost factor at an absolute minimum for you...

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