Is a good employer concerned with its impact on the environment? Does a good employer offer benefits and programs to its employees beyond those it is legally required to provide? Is a good corporate citizen concerned with the fair treatment of its contractors?

These are the kinds of questions freelance groups across the country are asking since learning that Corporate Knights magazine has included Transcontinental on their 2013 Best Corporate Citizens list.

Mariève Paradis, a freelance journalist and president of AJIQ (l’Association des journalistes indépendants du Québec) says she understands that Corporate Knights’ ranking system is primarily concerned with corporations’ environmental diligence. She believes, however, that other aspects of a company’s corporate citizenship should be taken into consideration when granting such awards.

“I would hope that they would look also at the economic and social impacts of the businesses before [adding] them on their list,” she told Story Board via email.

This week, Paradis wrote a letter to the editor of Corporate Knights, expressing concern about the magazine’s methods for evaluating corporate behaviour.

“You may not be aware that, this spring, several professional organizations denounced a Transcontinental subsidiary, TC Media, for attempting to impose an abusive new contract on their freelance contributors (journalists, illustrators and photographers),” reads the letter.

The letter also notes that TC Media recently cut newsroom jobs in its Montreal-area weekly papers by half, leading to reduced coverage of local news and politics.

“We believe this weakens local democracy by depriving citizens of the local news they need to make informed decisions. It seems to me that a good corporate citizen should help, not hinder, Canadians who try to get involved in their communities,” reads the letter.

Since the rankings for the 2013 awards were decided with the use of data from 2011, Paradis says she hopes that by the time corporate performance from 2013 is ranked, the magazine will find ways to incorporate new indicators that take into account “these kind of objectionable business practices.”

At any rate, the rigorousness of the judging for these types of top employer lists is highly questionable. Keith Maskell of the CMG says that such awards are frequently used by corporations in need of an image boost.

“In my experience they’re strictly a branding exercise for companies that need to polish up their somewhat-tarnished reputations,” he says.

“In some cases a company pays a significant fee to be ‘considered’ for the award – which is actually just a reward for filling out the awarding organization’s questionnaire – whether or not the answers are even adequate, let alone reflective of reality.”

From Canada:

• Access granted: AMI makes media available for all Canadians [J-Source]
• The Grid lays off four staff [Canadian Magazines]
• Postmedia vacates two floors of Vancouver newsroom space [J-Source]
• CMG appears before the Senate Committee on Finance regarding Bill C-60 [CMG]
• Radio-Canada president apologizes for ‘Ici’ rebranding plan [Globe and Mail]

From the U.S. and beyond:

• 10 tips for journalists who work from home [Journalism News]
• How to write the ‘perfect’ sentence [Poynter]
• It’s time to talk about interns [Nieman Lab]
• Former interns sue Conde Nast [Poynter]
• 5 Tips for Landing a Second Assignment [The Freelance Strategist] (via @contently)
• To Have A Productive Day, Make Work A Series Of Sprints [Fast Company] (via @freelancersu)
• Unpaid Interns Win Major Ruling in ‘Black Swan’ Case — Now What? [ProPublica] (via @karenatcmg)
• New press hits on ’3rd way’ between traditional and self-publishing [Guardian] (via @dongenova)
  
• New platform to help journalists monetise long-form content [Journalism News]
• Washington Post’s ‘Sponsored Views’ will let advertisers respond to opinion pieces [Poynter]
• New Pew study finds nonprofit news sites are ‘growing but fragile’ [Poynter]

From Story Board last week:

• Google+ for writers: So I’ve been thinking a lot about Google+ lately. I’m not happy about this. It’s a site I’ve been trying to ignore for two years now. I mean I’m barely keeping up with Twitter, and my LinkedIn page is a poor, stunted thing. Do I really need another social media site to neglect? But last month I ran across this post…
• CMG seeking Freelance Branch executive: The Canadian Media Guild’s Freelance Branch is looking for someone in the GTA to join their branch executive this month…
• James Moore responds to CMG’s letter about TC Media funding: The Canadian Media Guild has received a reply to a letter they sent to the Minister of Canadian Heritage last month regarding financial assistance given to TC Media through the Canada Periodical Fund…

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.

But last month I ran across this post.

It seems that, as a social network, Google+ is in a unique position. Why? Well, because it belongs to Google – the world’s most powerful search engine. So for writers trying to build their online presence, it’s got a lot to offer.

One of Google’s goals as a search engine is to have good quality writing appear higher in search rankings than low-quality sites. Basically, Google has declared war on the content farm. In its efforts to offer better search results, Google has also given writers a method to boost their own profile. A writer whose Google+ profile is linked to their online posts will see more detailed search results popping up – results that include a profile picture and other authorship information. The photos and the extra information lend more authority to your link, which results in a greater number of clicks.

It turns out Scientific American was saying all of this a year ago. Their post on the topic provides a handy link to a tutorial on how to set up your Google+ profile so that your authorship information appears beside links to your work.

Sounds like it could pay off to invest some time in Google+. I’ll add it to my to do list. Sigh. Or maybe I’ll just go and fiddle with my LinkedIn page instead…

Do you use Google+? Have you found it worthwhile? Please share your experiences in the comments.