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:

• Canadian University Press in financial crisis [J-Source]
• Self-publishing primer [PWAC Toronto]
• Bloomberg expands in Canada [J-Source]
• How to keep your emotional distance as a journalist [J-Source]
• The Grid magazine named -- again -- one of 5 best-designed newspapers in the world [Canadian Magazines]

From the U.S. and beyond:

• 3 Deadly Freelance Contract Traps [The Freelance Strategist] (via @contently)
• How to get a busy person to respond to your email [Medium] (via @journochat)
• Inside Amtrak's (Absolutely Awesome) Plan to Give Free Rides to Writers [The Wire] (via @GuyMacPherson)
• 5 Simple Ways Freelancers Tell Us They Manage Stress [Freelancers Union]
• Media is ‘failing women’ — sports journalism particularly so [Poynter]
• 9 productive ways to spend 5 minutes instead of checking your email (again) [Publication Coach]

This week on Story Board:

• Incubating Ideas -- Where do you get your ideas and how do you organize them?: The start of a new year is an interesting time. It’s a period of looking both forward and back. For me, the dawn of 2014 marked a phase of furious pitching, which cast my mind towards wondering how other freelancers come up with story ideas. Where do their ideas come from? And how do they keep track of them?...
• One year after factual TV director dies on job, workers speak out for safety: One year ago, my talented and beautifully spirited brother, John Driftmier, died on the job shooting adventure factual TV. It was by no means an isolated accident, though a fatal one: a plane he was taking aerial footage from crashed in a foreign country. The fact of the matter is that the hard-working people who create Canada’s factual TV productions are not being supported to make their workdays as safe as possible...

 

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.