What do student journalists need?

September 09, 2014 Editor News netroots nationstudent journalistsunpaid internships

by Kayla Perry On July 19, student journalists associated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and CWA Canada gathered during the Netroots Nation conference to answer one question: what do student journalists need? During the three hour meeting, attendees discussed what student journalists need in order to succeed, in both their…

Freelancer Stephen Leahy on crowdfunding his environmental journalism

July 09, 2014 Editor Journalism crowdfundingfreelance compensationfreelance lifegetting paidjournalismstephen leahy

by Rachel SandersStephen Leahy was at a conservation conference in Mexico five years ago when the dire state of freelance journalism became clear to him. After the event, he spoke with several other freelancers, all of whom had received travel awards to attend the event. Most of them had not been able to sell a single story about the…

Money in the bank: tips for freelance accounting

July 04, 2014 Editor Advice accountingadvicefreelance accountinggetting paid

by Hannah HoagNot long ago, one of my regular clients had some hiccups with their accounting procedures. Every month or so, I’d have to contact the department to inquire about a payment and track down the source of the problem. Sometimes the payment had never been processed. Other times the cheque had been lost in the mail.It was incredibly…

Forum Freelance Fund expands its bursary program

May 21, 2014 Editor News bursarycanadian journalism forum on violence and traumaforum freelance fundsafety training

Media outlets are relying more heavily on freelancers to cover news breaking in hazardous environments these days. This means that increasing numbers of freelancers are on their own in conflict zones and other dangerous environments without the support of the organizations that publish and broadcast their work.In response to the growing number of…

Saint John Seven end strike, MBS Radio begins lock-out

May 15, 2014 Editor News canadian media guildcollective actionmbs radioradiosaint john seventrouble spots

The seven unionized workers at MBS Radio in Saint John, New Brunswick called an end to their 686-day strike last week. Their employer responded with a lock-out notice, saying they will not be allowed to return to work without a collective agreement.The Saint John Seven joined the Canadian Media Guild in 2011 and spent almost a year trying to…

The Born Freelancer on Interning for Free

April 17, 2014 Editor Advice adviceborn freelancercompensationunpaid internships

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. Whenever I read stories about corporate media insisting they have no money to pay their hard working interns (such as Derek Finkle's recent…

The Unpaid Internship Conspiracy

March 31, 2014 Editor Journalism compensationinternshipstrouble spotsunpaid internships

Why Toronto Life’s first intern backs the Ontario labour ministry in shutting down the magazine’s twenty-one-year-old internship program and others that don’t pay by Derek Finkle I won’t lie: when John Macfarlane called me in May of 1993 and offered me a four-month internship at Toronto Life, the magazine he then edited, I was…

Crackdown on unpaid internships a positive step, but the collective struggle must continue

March 28, 2014 Editor News compensationinternshipsthe walrustoronto lifetrouble spotsunpaid internships

[caption id="attachment_8366" align="alignright" width="334"] illustration by Shantala Robinson[/caption]This week, the Ontario Ministry of Labour told The Walrus and Toronto Life to bring their internship programs into compliance with the Employment Standards Act (ESA). Both publications had a long history of offering full time, months-long,…

Pay Me Please helps freelancers get what they’re owed

March 26, 2014 Editor News advicefreelance compensationgetting paidpay me please

There's nothing quite as frustrating to a freelancer as having to chase a publisher down for unpaid invoices. Story Board has reported on late-paying Canadian publishers a couple of times over the past few months. In both cases, freelancers were angry enough to go public with their complaints.Last fall, a similarly frustrated freelance journalist…

A Twitterstorm about unpaid writing… Storified

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