Awards: Call for Entries for PWAC Writing Awards

The Professional Writers Association of Canada has put out its call for entries for its second annual writing awards. Non-fiction print and web stories in Canadian media are eligible. Award amounts have been increased to $750 value this year ($500 in cash plus a year's free PWAC membership to those eligible). Read all about it here. Also check out the editor of the year awards. (Disclosure: I'm co-chair of PWAC's nominations and awards committee.)

Awards: CAJ, NMA Deadlines Approach

Some reporting award deadlines are fast approaching in Canada. The deadline for the National Magazine Awards is tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 14. The Canadian Association of Journalists has just announced the deadline for its 2010 awards is Feb. 10.

Da Biz: News Nonprofits Hurting

Remember a year ago when everyone was predicting the imminent death of print media? The gloomy forecasts were made not least by newspaper moguls themselves (often looking for government handouts). Turns out the dailies are doing just fine now that the economy's back, while the bell is already tolling for many of the online nonprofit news sites that were supposed to take over the dailies' market. Many are closing, while withering competition is coming from the likes of Yahoo, which is expanding localized news coverage. Meanwhile, many of the few remaining nonprofits survive only because they are propped up by single rich families, as this interesting overview explains.