Seniority: of babies and bathwater
By Karen Wirsig The Ontario government and the Toronto Star have done workers no favour this Labour Day season. You […]
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Digital Media Mixer II: time to mingle once again
MediaTech Commons is hosting our second ever Digital Media Mixer in Toronto’s Liberty Village on Wednesday September 11. On the
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Sustainable work in digital media
We’re hosting another free mixer in Toronto! Join us on September 11th at Locus 144 in Liberty Village to meet industry colleagues and hear from speakers including video game industry researcher Johanna Weststar and the founders of co-working space Bento Miso.
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Follow your dreams, but don’t ask questions
As part of the under-30 set, my generation (perhaps more than any other) has been encouraged to pursue our passions ever since we exited the womb. But watch out for the unpleasant economic side effects.
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Help us support factual TV workers to improve conditions
Do you know anyone working on independent factual/unscripted TV productions? If so, please let them know about the anonymous online
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Blogs and the future of publishing
MT Commons moderator Steph Guthrie storified economist Umair Haque on the future of publishing. Spoiler: “power blogs” don’t feature!
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The first of many #MTCommons mixers
Last night we hosted our inaugural MediaTech Commons mixer at the Brazen Head Pub in Toronto’s Liberty Village. And what a party it was!
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Vacation at your own risk
It recently occurred to me that, in my 13 years of work, I have rarely taken paid vacation. Most of my jobs have been part-time or contracts with no benefits.
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Study finds pervasive gender inequality in film and TV production
A new report by Canadian Unions for Screen Equality, “Focus on Women,” points to a major gap between the opportunities
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Content moderation, #FBrape and compassion for the user
Facebook has a long history of relying on bro-centric rules for content moderation, particularly when it comes to issues that relate to sex, gender, and women’s bodies.
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What’s it really like to work in Canadian reality TV?
We’ve heard some bad stories from individual workers in factual TV about long hours, unpaid work, lack of benefits or
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Who pays for lifelong learning?
By Steph Guthrie We hear a lot about the importance of continuous or lifelong learning these days, and for good
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Bringing our germs to the office
In a survey conducted by Canada Life Group, a third of workers said they’d go into work if they had the flu, and 93% would still go to work if they had a cold.
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What are your tweets and posts worth?
Employers and clients often lack understanding of the work involved in social media, which usually results in either inadequate compensation, or an expectation to “squeeze in” social media amid an already full job.
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Temporary work visas: the floodgates are still open
On Monday, the federal government announced changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, pretending that misuse by some employers had
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Search for unpaid “sex intern” unfortunately not a parody of unpaid internships
By Steph Guthrie A 42-year-old Los Angeles author is using Craigslist to find a 20-year-old female English major to have
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Designing women: what difference do you make?
The involvement of women as technology makers, their treatment as users, and their representation in content are all connected.
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Temporary work visas and offshoring in IT: so much for a knowledge economy
Businesses move jobs offshore to save money; when they use the “Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” it’s for the same reason and even as part of the same process, as the RBC case makes clear.
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RBC/iGate: Don’t hate the player, hate the game
The real problem is a program that drives down wages and incentivizes the exploitation of both migrant workers and those who were already working in Canada.
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What prospects for investigative journalism?
An explosive, multi-year worldwide investigation into offshore tax havens shows just what can happen when outlets collaborate to dissect matters of public interest.
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Reports urge action on deteriorating working conditions
Media workers have an interest in two recent reports documenting the rise of temporary, low paying, precarious work, and proposing
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The internification of entry-level work
A recent New York Times article examined the evaporation of traditional entry-level work in favour of unpaid internships, particularly in “creative class” jobs.
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Building ourselves a future in digital media
By Steph Guthrie As a news junkie whose smartphone sometimes requires surgical removal from her hand, I have a vested
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An open invitation to the MediaTech Commons
The world of media and tech work is actually a mysterious place. It’s pretty rare that people talk openly about
An open invitation to the MediaTech Commons Read More