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: 

• Two top execs of Vice Media suspended over sexual harassment allegations [Canadian Magazines]
• The year that was in Canadian Magazines 2017 [Canadian Magazines]
• Is Donald Trump journalism's secret friend? [J-Source]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Please stop sending awful pitches [The Writing Cooperative]
• Some legends of longform on the stories we need next [Nieman Storyboard]
• Resolve to master new tools, improve your social media game and fix those passwords [Poynter]
• 4 Ways to Develop a Unique Writing Voice [The Write Life]
• Award to Splinter's Nolan highlights union advances in digital news media [Poynter]
• Everything Classic Children’s Literature Taught Me About Writing [The Write Life]

Recently on Story Board:

• New Year's resolutions, freelance style: We canvassed over a dozen writers working in a broad range of non-fiction genres; from travel writing to politics to science to energy to the environment. The questions were “Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution for your writing/journalism career, and how did it work out?” And, “Are you making any resolutions for 2018?”...
• News Literacy Project sees big uptake in Canadian schools: When the News Literacy Project launched its classroom program in 2009, the term “fake news” had not yet achieved notoriety. But Alan Miller, the project’s president and CEO, had already realized there was a growing challenge, particularly among young people, to interpret online information

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.