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:

• Like lunch, writing isn’t free [Globe and Mail] (via @mastmeghan)
• Chatelaine Day episodes launching on Citytv's Cityline [Masthead] (via @Canadianmags)
• The Huffington Post's Canadian ambitions [J-Source]
• Explore magazine reported sold to OP Publishing [Masthead]
• Alternative Media in Canada: An Interview With David Skinner [J-Source]

From the U.S. and beyond:

• How a Tiny Radio Show Raises Over $147,000 on Kickstarter [Media Bistro]
• What Happened To the Long Tail? As e-books grow and stores disappear, print backlist plunges [Publishers Weekly] (via @mathewi)
• Crossing the newspaper chasm: Is it better to be funded by readers? [GigaOM] (via @mathewi)
• Pulitzer winner Sara Ganim explains how she develops sources, gets them to open up [Poynter]
• 10 Useful iPhone Apps for Writers [Worldwide Freelance Writer] (via ‏@LuigiBenetton)
• Why social media isn't the magic bullet for self-epublished authors [Guardian] (via ‏@mathewi)
• Soundcloud expands its effort to become the YouTube of public radio and podcasts [Nieman Lab]

From Story Board last week:

• Striking workers on the air with Radio Free Saint John: After nearly a month on the picket line, the seven striking employees of MBS Radio have been back on the air for the past few days. The striking members of the Canadian Media Guild are broadcasting from a web-based station called Radio Free Saint John, playing music as well as using the internet airwaves to get their message out....
• The Born Freelancer explores copyright: Part 1 and Part 2: It’s a heart-stopping moment.  You put your thoughts and soul into your work online, creating a project you hope will touch an audience and you reach out to share something you believe in or feel is important. Later you find out it’s been pirated. Stolen. Put on somebody else’s website without a credit or acknowledgment or even a simple courteous “thank you.” Or it may be attributed to you but edited beyond recognition or inaccurately reproduced. This possibly malicious action could potentially cost you lost revenue and a tarnished reputation depending upon the website and the context of your work’s (mis)use. What can you do?

Spot a story you think we should include in next week's Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca.

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