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: 

• Global News cuts staff across Canada as they undertake reorganization [J-Source]
• Torstar cuts jobs, internship programs; board chair says the company is fighting for survival [Globe and Mail]
• The Toronto Star is putting its internship programs on indefinite hiatus and cutting its freelance budget [J-Source]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• The final, terrible voyage of the Nautilus [Wired]
• Just Say No to These 5 Freelance Writing Jobs [The Write Life]
• How to carve out time as a freelancer [Freelancers Union]
• Journalists At HuffPost UK Have Begun Talks On Unionising [BuzzFeed]
• 7 Things Managing Editors Want Freelancers to Know About Brand Writing [The Freelancer]
• 12 Traits Bad Writers and Toddlers Have in Common [The Write Life]
• Stop doing this one thing and become instantly more productive [Freelancers Union]

Recently on Story Board:

• 2018 Public Lending Rights Program registration open February 15 to May 1: The program is a Canada Council for the Arts program that distributes payments to Canadian creators in compensation for the lending out of their books through Canadian public libraries...
• Urban Worker Project Skillshare in Vancouver March 1: This day-long event will feature workshops and roundtables that will help independent workers develop the skills they need to build successful businesses and thrive in the changing world of work...

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.