Canadian Business suspends paid
internships, for now
Sorry to see that Canadian Business, which has for some time offered much-sought-after six month paid internships, has suspended its program, at least for now, according to a story in Masthead. It usually hires two paid interns for four- and six-month terms in the summer and fall and has paid them $2,000 a month out of the editorial budget to do fact-checking, writing and research; much better than most magazines.
Deborah Rosser, the publisher of CB, said:
Deborah Rosser, the publisher of CB, said:
“We pay interns. We don’t hire them for free. And in the current economic climate, unfortunately, we just can’t do it this year.”CB will not be offering unpaid internships this summer, Rosser added, but should market conditions improve, the paid internship program could be revived in the fall.
posted by D. B. Scott at
10:28 am
12 Comments:
Why can't Canadian Business take a page out of Twaddle Creek's playbook and pay interns a "token" amount in return for a wonderful learning opportunity?
Deb Rosser seems opposed, on principle, to the very idea of unpaid internships (or those providing only token remuneration) but we all know that unpaid interns benefit tremendously provided they're, er, put to work.
The whole paid/unpaid debate still isn't resolved. Damned if you pay 'em (less profit), damned if ya don't...
The Old Fart
You're basically making an argument for the exploitation of interns.
Exploitation? How can it be exploitation when you've got a student who pays thousands to a college or university for knowledge and know-how, and pays nothing to an employer for hands-on knowledge and real-world know-how? Exploitation? Seems like a bargain, doesn't it?
- TOF
Actually, a number of magazines offer honorariums to their interns (eg. Toronto Life), although many do not. And paid or unpaid, they all try to play up the benefits of the gig.
But I agree, it's still exploitation, whether you benefit from it or not. Personally, I benefited just as much from my paid internship :).
Anyway, just because it's the industry standard, doesn't make it the right thing to do. I actually applaud Deb Rosser for the decision, and I'm sure (or I hope) it wasn't made lightly. Other magazines, like the Walrus, have lost their funding and chosen to maintain the internship. But the quality of their interns has gone down accordingly.
"But the quality of their interns has gone down accordingly."
What do you base this on? I know some (unpaid) interns who would be pretty offended by this statement.
Sadly, the real difference between paid and unpaid interns is not their quality, but their economic circumstances. People with the financial means (privilege) to work for free get the experience, leaving those who do not without the opportunity (or a future in magazines). Quality has little to do with it.
Magazines, of course, would be wise to pay interns. It would lead, naturally, to better work. But given the economic climate, many (including the one I work at) simply cannot afford to pay interns. Is this exploitation? Perhaps. But it's a position students enter into knowingly, and I'm very clear with the interns I work with that, in lieu of payment, we're going to go that extra mile to give them real-world experience as well as an opportunity to make contacts in the industry, and anything else -- such as editing their job application cover letters, ensuring they get bylines and helping them target potential employers -- that might help them get a leg up. When I did an unpaid internship at a Toronto weekly way back when, I would've loved an opportunity like the ones our interns are getting now.
This is starting to sound like one of those freelance word rate comment threads. I don't know anybody who wouldn't rather pay writers and interns more! It makes our jobs as editors easier. But again, it's a field we choose to enter; nobody's forcing us. And it's fact that there's very little money in this biz. For anybody.
So, if I am understanding you correctly, if it's a choice between having a paid internship at CB or no internship, then you would go with no internship?
How can that be good for the kids?
It's a false choice anyway -- the third route is an unpaid internship along the lines of Twaddle Creek and its token payout...or is Twaddle Creek guilty of exploitation?
- TOF
Taddle Creek. The magazine is called Taddle Creek.
Anonymous poster #2 here. TOF, let's look at your statement again:
"you've got a student who pays thousands to a college or university for knowledge and know-how, and pays nothing to an employer for hands-on knowledge and real-world know-how?"
Why is it you are implying students should pay employers for the privilege of doing their work?
By your logic, freelancers should pay magazines for the joy of being published, etc.
What is it about editorial work that makes people think working for free is acceptable?
What is it about "editorial experience" or "publishing experience" that is so unlike all other kinds of work experience that we don't think twice about asking people to work for free in a cash poor industry to give them an advantage at getting low paid jobs down the road?
Not sure which anon this was, but someone commented on the impossibility of paying interns in this economic climate. That seems to be the situation that Canadian Business is in, but unpaid internships have otherwise been a staple of the business for years, economy notwithstanding.
And yes, as someone else pointed out, we could probably talk about this forever, same as with writing rates. But there's definitely a mentality about writing for free that doesn't apply to other areas. Can you imagine telling an accountant that their work isn't worth as much money b/c it happens to be something they love? Just my bad luck I guess that what I love is writing.
As for Twaddle/Taddle Creek, they're not the only ones offering an honourarium for their internship. Toronto Life does too (mentioned already) and so do other mags probably.
As for the quality of an internship, paid or not, my experience as an intern and editor both, is that it really depends on the magazine. Some publications do work extra hard to give their interns a good experience especially when they're unpaid, and others, unfortunately, just don't care.
I am doing some research on publishing internships for a client who is interested in starting a program and am finding many of your comments intriguing. If anyone is willing to chat about what they've seen work and what hasn't - I'm particularly interested in quality of experience for the interns - please contact me. Thanks - Virginia (vedelstein@volunteervancouver.ca)
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