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). Both publications had a long history of offering full time, months-long, unpaid internships for contributing to the main work of the publication. Instead of apologizing and figuring out […]
What’s in your contract?
Libel notice served to Toronto Life should give freelance writers pause for thought York University’s recent libel notice to Toronto Life should serve as a sobering reminder for Canadian freelance writers. The article at issue – a feature on sexual assault at York – was written by freelance contributor Katherine Laidlaw. Fortunately for Laidlaw, […]
The E-Book Show Down: Part Two
E-books are emerging as the latest battleground between writers and print publishers seeking to monetize online content. In this “reset” moment, writers need to be sure they set a fair precedent early on. Read Part One of this three-part series here. By Derek Finkle Toronto Life By early 2012, we had three writers […]
Profile of CBC’s Kirstine Stewart continues CWG’s nonfiction ebook series
All eyes are on the CBC after the federal government announced it would cut 10 per cent of its budget. It’s likely Kirstine Stewart, the broadcaster’s executive vice-president in charge of English programming, is feeling the weight of that gaze more than anyone else at the CBC. In a story that first appeared in Toronto […]
Canadian Writers Group launches ebook venture with Russell Smith’s Blindsided
In May last year, the Canadian Writers Group’s Derek Finkle was talking about the need for a long-form journalism platform in Canada similar to sites like Byliner and The Atavist operating in the U.S. This week, CWG launched a series of non-fiction ebooks with novelist and Globe columnist Russell Smith’s Blindsided, a story of about […]
New Globe and Mail policy affects freelancers
John Stackhouse, executive editor at the Globe and Mail, has reportedly told Globe staffers they can no longer freelance for Toronto Life and Chatelaine because the magazines are now considered “competitors.” What’s more, the same policy applies may soon apply to freelancers who contribute to the paper, most of whom don’t earn enough from the Globe to […]
Finkle going to bat for independent writers
Toronto writer Derek Finkle’s first feature assignment netted him a cover story in Toronto Life. It all started in 1993 when he became the magazine’s first intern. The story was about a sting operation on a paid hit and it introduced Finkle to key police sources that would prove helpful to his later work. But […]
