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's "gig economy" fueled by young workers starved for choice [Toronto Star]
• IAF calls on Canada to protect its cultural workers by repairing copyright [TWUC]
• An interview with Jude Isabella [Digital Publishing blog]
• A new database seeks to amplify women's voices in the news media [J-Source]
• Postmedia’s problems piling up with print revenue declining [Globe and Mail]
• Inside the Ugly Unravelling at the Vancouver Sun and Province [The Tyee]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Is an MFA in Creative Writing Worthwhile? 7 Writers Weigh In [The Write Life]
• The Intercept Unionizes with the Writers Guild of America, East [WGA East]
• 4 ways to attract better paying clients [Freelancers Union]
• Facebook Is Now To Teach People To Spot Fake News [BuzzFeed]
• Generate Story Ideas Like an Improv Comedian [Mediabistro]
• Condé Nast: Freelancer contract change is not what you think [CJR]
• Questionable payment practices at Condé Nast cause alarm for New York City freelancers [Freelancers Union]
• A new European union is forming (of news orgs partnering to share their data tools and journalism) [Nieman Lab]

Recently on Story Board:

• Webinar: Cyber Security for Journalists: CMG Freelance is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, April 11. The webinar will focus on tangible and easy steps reporters can take to secure their everyday activities online and off. It will cover some of the best apps to use for communication, setting up PGP encryption, and other key operations security activities...
• Hey, CBC Freelancers, You’re Getting A Raise!: Journalists who contribute to the CBC on a freelance basis are now subject to new minimum rates as of April 1, 2017. The Canadian Media Guild and CBC have agreed to a 1.5% across-the-board increase in rates contained in the collective agreement...
• Indemnity clauses are the rickety bridges of freelancing: We’ve packed our backpack and made progress up the path by successfully researching and pitching the story. Yet we’ve invested all this time without knowing there is a rickety bridge — an unfavourable contract — to cross at the summit...

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.