Saint John Seven end strike, MBS Radio begins lock-out
The seven unionized workers at MBS Radio in Saint John, New Brunswick called an end to their 686-day strike last week. Their employer responded with a lock-out notice, saying they will not be allowed to return to work without a collective agreement. The Saint John Seven joined the Canadian Media Guild in 2011 and spent almost a […]
Podcasting patent threatens independent media
by J.P. Davidson Like blogging and web video, podcasting has matured in recent years – from nerdy niche to viable independent media platform. Marc Maron is one success story: the interviews he conducts from his garage in LA go out to a massive online following. The show revived Maron’s career and even landed him a […]
The Unpaid Internship Conspiracy
Why Toronto Life’s first intern backs the Ontario labour ministry in shutting down the magazine’s twenty-one-year-old internship program and others that don’t pay by Derek Finkle I won’t lie: when John Macfarlane called me in May of 1993 and offered me a four-month internship at Toronto Life, the magazine he then edited, I was overcome. I […]
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 […]
Tragic death of camera assistant in Georgia highlights on-set safety issues
Last week Peter Driftmier’s Story Board post about the death of his brother on a factual TV shoot got a lot of attention from people in the television production industry. Tweets about the post came from all corners of Canada, as well as the United States and England. It seems the story struck a nerve with […]
One year after factual TV director dies on job, workers speak out for safety
by Peter Driftmier 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 […]
Warning to freelancers: The Revelation Magazine
Freelance writers, photographers and web developers are advised that a Toronto-based startup magazine is behind on payments to its contributors. The Revelation Magazine, an online publication that bills itself as a “non-denomination Christian lifestyle magazine,” published one issue in December before suspending publication in mid-January. More than two dozen freelancers — writers, photographers and graphic […]
2013: The Year of the Angry Freelancer
by Rachel Sanders Back in January I wrote a post called 2013: The Year of the Freelancer. The number of freelancers worldwide had grown hugely in 2012 and the freelance trend was showing no signs of stopping. Freelance work was making mainstream news, which seemed to indicate a big year ahead. Well it was a […]
Freelancers report delayed payments from Venture Publishing
** Update Dec 17/13: Chris Turner has reported that he received his overdue cheque from Venture Publishing this week. Some of the other freelancers that Story Board contacted are still waiting for payment. ** Venture Publishing has told at least one freelancer that it is behind in payments to its contributors, blaming poor summer ad […]
NDP petition calls for Urban Worker Strategy
The NDP has launched a petition calling for the implementation of a “pan-Canadian Urban Worker Strategy” to better support the growing number of Canadians who suffer under precarious working conditions. The petition, titled “Urban workers deserve better” singles out unpaid internships as one of the main problems facing urban workers today. It also says the self-employed, […]
