Growth of unpaid internships probably illegal

[lesboulez]

back in 1998, my then-girlfriend got an internship at the WaPo. she made about the equivalent of $48K a year. i got an internship at the b'ham news and got the same as about $17K a year. wonder what or if those pay now?

 

[JR]

I think I've got a different perspective. I would prefer to make nothing while doing something than the opposite. I'd rather agate, write a gamer, cover a house fire and go to a 5k for diabetes and not get paid than answer phones for $6/hr.

College is an investment in your future. And what better investment than covering a whole bunch of stuff for a paper / radio station / TV station. Look, I never had any money in college. I worked - at one point - at eight different jobs at the same time to make ends meet. And I took two unpaid internships, too. I worked like a DOG in college. And it taught me more about time management, budgeting and real life.

Sorry kids, everything in life isn't easy. The real world isn't easy. You want to get ahead? You have to earn it. Besides, so long as it is for credit, a student loan can be applied to it. Again, college is an investment. It's not for everyone.

We did away with traditional interns (do work, get experience, etc) where I'm at because we weren't allow to have them do "work" anymore. Now interns simply shadow different people on a rotating basis. So not only are they unpaid, they aren't gaining any skills.

What is the point in that?

The idea: "Interns have a chance to learn from each person in the newsroom"
The outcome: "Interns learn nothing because very few people learn about how to DO a job by watching someone else do it"

Just my two cents.

And by earn it, I mean work without earning money.

Point made. But let us be real, my work wasn't WORTH the money most times. As PC said above, intern work is usually not up to professional level and people spend time working with the interns to help them get better. Or at least that was my experience.

Example: I was the "runner" for a summer league baseball team's play-by-play guy. I'd grab stats, let him know who was up in the bullpen, etc. I even got to call part of a game one day. In return, he said, "ask me anything. I'll answer it." At the time I was considering a career in play-by-play so it was a GREAT experience.

Can anyone say they would EXPECT to be paid for that at 19 years old?

Yes. I would expect to be paid for that when I was 13 years old

Why would you do ANY work for nothing? No one should undervalue anything they do.

If you work for nothing, you're a volunteer, like soccer moms.

 

[JimmyHoward33]

All the work anyone does for a class is essentially for nothing in terms of pay. It's for a grade and you've paid for the privilege of doing it.

My unpaid internship led to my job. It was a night shift and I held down another job during the day. I realize I was a little lucky that way and not even industry has hours that allow for people that literally can't afford an unpaid internship to hold another gig. I think a blanket unpaid internships are illegal/immoral/wrong is too black/white.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Unpaid internships lead to a job where $30,000 per year is a high salary starting out. The problem is college students are still beating down the doors for a chance at that low-paying job that may be part-time.

 

[SnarkShark]

I think I've got a different perspective. I would prefer to make nothing while doing something than the opposite. I'd rather agate, write a gamer, cover a house fire and go to a 5k for diabetes and not get paid than answer phones for $6/hr.

College is an investment in your future. And what better investment than covering a whole bunch of stuff for a paper / radio station / TV station. Look, I never had any money in college. I worked - at one point - at eight different jobs at the same time to make ends meet. And I took two unpaid internships, too. I worked like a DOG in college. And it taught me more about time management, budgeting and real life.

Sorry kids, everything in life isn't easy. The real world isn't easy. You want to get ahead? You have to earn it. Besides, so long as it is for credit, a student loan can be applied to it. Again, college is an investment. It's not for everyone.

We did away with traditional interns (do work, get experience, etc) where I'm at because we weren't allow to have them do "work" anymore. Now interns simply shadow different people on a rotating basis. So not only are they unpaid, they aren't gaining any skills.

What is the point in that?

The idea: "Interns have a chance to learn from each person in the newsroom"
The outcome: "Interns learn nothing because very few people learn about how to DO a job by watching someone else do it"

Just my two cents.

And by earn it, I mean work without earning money.

Point made. But let us be real, my work wasn't WORTH the money most times. As PC said above, intern work is usually not up to professional level and people spend time working with the interns to help them get better. Or at least that was my experience.

Example: I was the "runner" for a summer league baseball team's play-by-play guy. I'd grab stats, let him know who was up in the bullpen, etc. I even got to call part of a game one day. In return, he said, "ask me anything. I'll answer it." At the time I was considering a career in play-by-play so it was a GREAT experience.

Can anyone say they would EXPECT to be paid for that at 19 years old?

Yes. If you value yourself and your skills, you should expect to get paid at any age. For a lot of internships, you have to apply and go through the interview process, with some competition. If you get through that process and get the internship, the publication is acknowledging those skills.

 

[YankeeFan]

People keep wanting to argue the merits of the laws in place to govern internships. The fact of the matter is, there are laws, and the two groups most intent on violating them are the government, and the media -- the very same groups that should be the watchdogs.

(In the case of government, they are likely violating the spirit of the law, as they often have exemptions to the law in place.)

And, they are both clearly using interns for free labor. (Especially if we include Hollywood in the discussion.)

And, you can't look at this picture, and not realize that diversity is hurt by unpaid internships:

 

[Baron Scicluna]

At the Gannett paper I worked at, we had, what I thought, was a pretty fair system for the interns.

First week on the job, they learned to take phone results. And that's what they did for several weeks. They'd get evaluated on how they did, if they could gather the info up and write it in 3-inch briefs, with accuracy and be able to make deadline.

If they proved they could do it, they'd get sent out to cover a game. Sometimes at first, they'd shadow a reporter and write a sidebar. If they did that well, they'd get to go out on their own. Eventually, they'd get to help out writing our All-Star team features.

A few of them, at least before the industry caved in, even went on to get jobs with the paper. The ones that couldn't be counted on stayed on phones.

Now, was there "We're going to get swamped, but at least we'll have the interns to help us out" talk? Absolutely. But at the same time, the interns got to see what it was like to work in a sports department on a Friday night, and, if they were good enough, would get some clips for their future.

 

[Mark2010]

At the Gannett paper I worked at, we had, what I thought, was a pretty fair system for the interns.

First week on the job, they learned to take phone results. And that's what they did for several weeks. They'd get evaluated on how they did, if they could gather the info up and write it in 3-inch briefs, with accuracy and be able to make deadline.

If they proved they could do it, they'd get sent out to cover a game. Sometimes at first, they'd shadow a reporter and write a sidebar. If they did that well, they'd get to go out on their own. Eventually, they'd get to help out writing our All-Star team features.

A few of them, at least before the industry caved in, even went on to get jobs with the paper. The ones that couldn't be counted on stayed on phones.

Now, was there "We're going to get swamped, but at least we'll have the interns to help us out" talk? Absolutely. But at the same time, the interns got to see what it was like to work in a sports department on a Friday night, and, if they were good enough, would get some clips for their future.

Good system. One place I worked did similar. Of course, it makes a difference if you are located somewhere with a real university with a journalism program close by.

 

[Bradley Guire]

I never did the internship thing. I managed to talk two newspapers into taking me on as a part-timer for well above minimum wage. When those ended (first one was a summer job, the second place cut me with all the other part timers), I delivered pizzas because I was on my own for money. I didn't have the luxury of working for free. I still managed to land a full-time job soon after graduating, despite not having any internships, paid or not. Then again, I'd probably have just as much job security delivering pizzas.

 

[Mark2010]

People keep wanting to argue the merits of the laws in place to govern internships. The fact of the matter is, there are laws, and the two groups most intent on violating them are the government, and the media -- the very same groups that should be the watchdogs.

(In the case of government, they are likely violating the spirit of the law, as they often have exemptions to the law in place.)

And, they are both clearly using interns for free labor. (Especially if we include Hollywood in the discussion.)

And, you can't look at this picture, and not realize that diversity is hurt by unpaid internships:

Of course. If you are not paying at least a stipend, the pool of applicants is going to be skewed toward those who don't need the money. And, quite often, there are racial discrepancies. Certainly socio-economic discrepancies. No one said the world was fair. Lots of people got opportunities I never would dream of getting while in college or shortly afterward.

 

[Gold]

For Anderson Cooper not to pay interns is outrageous and illegal.

When did unpaid internships become all right? Newspapers have always paid low but minimum-wage money to people who come in. I have posted on this before, and the defenders give the "That's just the way it is." That is a nonsense argument.

 

[LongTimeListener]

For Anderson Cooper not to pay interns is outrageous and illegal.

When did unpaid internships become all right? Newspapers have always paid low but minimum-wage money to people who come in. I have posted on this before, and the defenders give the "That's just the way it is." That is a nonsense argument.

We must not upset the Job Creators. These are jobs, after all. They aren't paying jobs, but they are jobs and people should just be happy to have one.