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:

• Important dates for the 2016 National Magazine Awards [Magazine Awards]
• Help update the pay rates for work in factual TV [CMG]
• National Newsmedia Council aims to bring more media into the fold [J-Source]
• S&P cuts Postmedia's credit rating, warns capital structure "unsustainable" [Globe and Mail]
• Uncivil Dialogue: Commenting and stories about Indigenous people [J-Source]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Why I stopped calling myself a "freelancer" [Fast Company]
• Struggling authors applying for emergency funds in record numbers [The Guardian]
• Huffington Post joins the union movement – but what about their freelancers? [Freelancers Union]
• Don’t Let This Small Mistake Ruin Your Personal Essay Pitch [The Write Life]
• Glenn Greenwald Talks Freelancing and the Future of Investigative Journalism [The Freelancer]
• 4 must-dos for freelancers before the holidays take over [Freelancers Union]
• Huffington Post the Latest Web Publication to Unionize [Newsweek]
• ‘Overwhelming majority’ sign up for union at Huffington Post, ask for voluntary recognition [Poynter]
• Free spec work? Watch people in other industries say no to spec [Freelancers Union]
• 5 Veteran Freelancers Reveal Their Best Negotiating Tips [The Freelancer]

Last week on Story Board:

• Media workers gather in Louisville to plot path to better workplaces: In early October, journalists, labour organizers, activists and academics converged in Louisville, KY, at the Media Workers Unite Founding Convention to discuss industry-wide campaigns to organize media workers...
• Content Marketing Needn't be an Ethical Quandary for Canadian Freelancers: In my last column, we looked at “following the money;” at the need for Canadian freelancers who want to continue writing and editing as a career to consider new types of clients...

 

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.