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: 

• Unpaid internships are unethical and uneconomical. Time to ban them [Canadian Business]
• Unpaid interns are this generation's slaves: Mallick [Toronto Star]
• Live blog: Becoming a successful freelance journalist [J-Source]
• Unpaid internships at magazines new target of Ontario labour ministry [Globe and Mail]
• Ontario labour ministry cracks down on unpaid internships at Toronto Life, The Walrus [J-Source]
• Ontario labour ministry cracks down on unpaid magazine internships, starting with Toronto Life [Canadian Magazines]
• Constant cuts at CBC take a toll [CMG]
• Announcing Awards Winners [Alberta Magazine Publishers Association]
• Alberta Magazine Awards 2014 [Storify] (via @albertamags)

From the U.S. and beyond:

• Freelancers are awesome, says science [Freelancers Union]
• Newsrooms freeze out freelancers moonlighting for brands [Digiday] (@mediagazer)
• 3 Attributes for a Successful Writing Career [Books and Such] (via @thewritelife)
• Are your freelance writing rates too low? [Dear Dr. Freelance]
• The Ultimate Guide to Freelancing [Designer Depot] (via @datejieatcmg)
• State of the media: Not out of the woods by any means, but some reasons for cautious optimism [GigaOM]
• The big steal: rise of the plagiarist [The Guardian]
• New York Times to pay academic interns minimum wage [Borough Buzz] (via @mediagazer)
• This Site Should Terrify Publishers Who Don’t Pay Up [Contently]
• A Freelancer's Guide to Staying Motivated [Creative Market]
• Freelance Writers: 4 Types of Publications You Should Pitch [The Write Life]

This week on Story Board:

• Crackdown on unpaid internships a positive step, but the collective struggle must continue: 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)...
• The Born Freelance on the Creative Journey: I’ve discovered a site which you might enjoy. It’s called I Write Like and purports to tell you whose style your writing most resembles. While I cannot vouch for its veracity, it is a fun and occasionally flattering reminder that we are all influenced by countless others who have toiled in the trenches we toil in today...
• Pay Me Please helps freelancers get what they're owed: There’s nothing quite as frustrating to a freelancer as having to chase a publisher down for unpaid invoices...

 

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.