MagsBC extends call for subsidized internships

The Magazine Association of BC has extended the deadline for application for the program subsidizing internships. Visit here to find out about applying and to download the guide and the form.

Although the initial deadline has passed, member magazines may continue to submit an application up to early fall for subsidies of up to 80% for half-time internships of 16-22 weeks for 2017-2018. These subsidies are subject to federal funding.

Non-member magazines who are interested in hosting an intern are invited to submit a member application form. If accepted, new members may immediately apply for the subsidy. Information on membership eligibility, types and forms may be found here.

Magazines Canada polling its members about what they'd like to see in industry internships

Magazines Canada is polling its members to determine what they would like to see in an industry internship program. It's not before time.

The feasibility study is being funded by the Ontario Media Development Corporation and the goal is to find out from member publishers how young, talented people can get an opportunity to build careers in magazine publishing. 

"In this anonymous survey, we’ll explore your past experience with internships, what you see as the needs, gaps and opportunities, and get your feedback on a few potential models for how an industry paid internship program might work," the association says.

The whole issue of internships has been bedevilled by whether they are on-the-job training or free labour. Unpaid internships were until recently rife among magazines and many publishers depended on them to staff entry-level positions doing such work as fact-checking, research and writing.  But they were brought up short -- at least in Ontario -- when the government cracked down with an investigation under the Employment Standards Act. In a March 2014 statement the Ontario ministry of labour said

"Ontario’s rules are clear - regardless of your job title or what you agreed to when you started - if you perform work for somebody, you are protected under the Employment Standards Act (ESA)." 

Some publishers simply stopped taking on interns unless they could be done under cover of being part of the curriculum of a certified educational institution. Students still didn't get paid for the work they did, but it was apparently allowed as part of learning or work experience. 

Other publishers or related organizations (e.g. the National Magazine Awards Foundation) continued to or began paying at the minimum wage (roughly $11 an hour).

It's not known what questions are being asked in the survey or what the timeline is for making use of what's learned. 

Confronting unpaid work is topic of SFU forum

Thanks to Our Times magazine for alerting us to a free event about internship reform being presented tomorrow (Wed. 4) in Vancouver by the SFU Centre for Dialogue. It's from 7-9 pm ,Room 420, 580 West Hastings St. 

Speakers included John Arthur of the Canadian Intern Association, Eric Glatt, a labour rights activist, Nancy Johnston, executive director of student affairs at SFU, Iain Reeve of Generation Squeeze, Rachel Sanders of the Canadian Media Guild, the whole moderated by Emily Fister of Green College at UBC and a contributor to the Tyee.
..

Opportunity for paid internships at National Magazine Awards

The National Magazine Awards are looking for a few good -- paid -- administrative interns to help it run the program and event. The contract is for an average of 15 hours a week at $11 an hour between November 3 and June 30 2015. Details and further information. 

Some Walrus interns are back working in a pilot project funded by Chawkers Foundation

Given that this blog reported fairly extensively on the fallout from the Ontario Ministry of Labour crackdown on unpaid internships, it seems only reasonable to report that some interns are back, and paid, at The Walrus. The story, reported by the Toronto Star, is that the Chawkers Foundation, a private family foundation that was primarily responsible for the launch of The Walrus in the first place, will pay three of its interns for six month "editorial fellowships".

“The new Chawkers Fellows will be solely funded by The Chawkers Foundation who will provide a stipend to the three of them (in an amount acceptable to the Ministry of Labour) for the six month period, which begins now and ends at the end of September,” wrote co-publisher Shelley Ambrose in an email to the Star.
“We, of course, offered the opportunity to those who were affected by the Ministry of Labour’s shut down,” she wrote.

Ambrose maintains the magazine is not "hiring" the fellows.

“The Walrus Foundation does not pay them. This is a project by The Chawkers Foundation that we are creating for Chawkers,” Ambrose wrote. “We did not ‘rehire.’ The three individuals who are here now were interns before. We offered the former interns who were affected by the Ministry’s order FIRST chance at becoming Fellows (which we were thrilled to be able to do) and taking part in this pilot project and they agreed.”

Of the seven interns found on the premises by the ministry of labour, two were kept on because they were paying tuition at vocational schools and three are now working again courtesy of Chawkers. Which, we suppose, means that two interns are essentially out of luck. 

Now, a bit of background. The Chawkers Foundation paid $5 million to help get The Walrus off the ground a decade ago -- pledging $1 million a year for five years. The scion of the family, Ken Alexander, became the editor and quit in 2008 after a tumultuous reign. For a time, early on in the magazine's life, the Metcalfe Foundation had funded Walrus internships -- one of the most lucrative programs in Canada -- but several years ago pulled its support. Thereafter, interns were unpaid. It's not known what the three interns are now to be paid, but if it is at the Ontario minimum wage, the nut for the Chawkers is probably in the range of $65,000. 

Rogers Publishing latest company to end unpaid internships

Unpaid interns at several magazines in Rogers Publishing were let go this morning, the latest fallout from the crackdown last week by the Ontario Ministry of Labour under the terms of the Employment Standards Act. 

Most publications have one or more unpaid interns. Flare magazine, for instance, has had 6. 

An enquiry to Rogers asking how many interns were let go and at which magazines was responded to this way by Louise Leger, communications manager, publishing:

I can confirm that some interns within Publishing finished their internships with us today. We believe internships are a valuable opportunity for students and recent graduates to gain practical experience. We also view interns as prospective employees. In fact, we’ve hired about one-third of those who interned with us in the past year, while others go on to get jobs in their fields at other companies.

Some Rogers internships which were ended today were not due to finish until early May. Some Rogers publications, such as Canadian Business pay their interns and Rogers has paid a modest honorarium to people who take part in its M-School, which involves placements in editorial, sales & marketing, design, photography or production. 

Ont Ministry of Labour says it intends to enforce "clear" employment rules as part of "blitz"

The Ontario Ministry of Labour this afternoon issued a statement about unpaid magazine (and other) internships.

Statement from Ministry of Labour re internships at magazines. 

Our government knows that investing in young people means making sure they are treated fairly on the job and we have strong rules in place to help make that happen.

Ontario’s rules are clear - regardless of your job title or what you agreed to when you started - if you perform work for somebody, you are protected under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). 

There are very few exceptions to this requirement, such as those who are in training and meet very restrictive conditions, individuals who perform work under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or a university, and secondary school students performing work under a work experience program authorized by the school board. 

In December 2013, inspections of Toronto Life Magazine/St. Joseph Media and [The] Walrus Magazine were commenced to determine whether certain publicly posted positions were ESA compliant. As a result of these inspections, Compliance Orders were issued for violations of several standards: Wage Statements, Record Keeping, Minimum Wage, Public Holiday Pay and Vacation Pay. This means that, pending any appeal, the workers involved have to be paid. The inspections are ongoing and have not yet been completed. 

It is important to note that the Ministry of Labour has on-going educational outreach program and proactive inspection team to make sure both businesses and our youth are aware of these rules and Ministry’s officers already inquiry about unpaid interns during all proactive inspections.

In fact, the government invested an additional $3 million last year in proactive enforcement – hiring more inspectors and conducting more workplace inspections. 

The Ministry of Labour will be launching an enforcement blitz this spring focused specifically on internships across a variety of sectors. Any concerns regarding working arrangements can be referred to the Ministry of Labour's Information Centre at 1-800-531-5551. Information is available in 23 different languages.

Related posts:

• Tamara Baluja at J-source 
• The Globe and Mail's Simon Houpt 
• Kim Nursall in the Toronto Star 

The Walrus, now, says ministry of labour has closed intership program

The Walrus magazine is letting its interns go as the result of a crackdown by the Ontario ministry of labour that we first reported yesterday this week at Toronto Life. The co-publisher of The Walrus, Shelley Ambrose,  issued a statement today:

The Liberal Government of Ontario's Ministry of Labour has closed the internship program at The Walrus Foundation. The Ministry of Labour employment standards act inspector has said our four-to-six-month unpaid internships can no longer be offered unless the interns have a formal agreement for a work experience with a vocational school. We have been training future leaders in media and development for ten years, and we are extremely sorry we are no longer able to provide these opportunities, which have assisted many young Ontarians - and Canadians - in bridging the gap from university to paid work and in, many cases, to stellar careers.

Ontario labour ministry cracks down on unpaid magazine internships, starting with Toronto Life

Come Monday, five unpaid interns at Toronto Life magazine will be out of work because of a visit this week by an inspector of the employment standards branch of the Ontario Ministry of Labour. St. Joseph Media has been told that under the provisions of the Employment Standards Act it can no longer offer four-month unpaid internships unless the interns are fulfilling a job placement requirement from a school of higher education. This is not the case for most interns at Toronto Life historically, although two of the current 7 interns qualify and will be staying on. 

The ministry inspector also advised that, though he was starting with Toronto Life, the policy will be enforced later with other St. Joseph magazines and, indeed eventually, all magazines in Ontario. 

The interns were briefed about what is happening by St. Joseph CEO Douglas Knight. He said that he found the situation "bizarre", particularly since there was no notice or discussion. The ministry move effectively ends a successful 20-year program that has always been oversubscribed and in great demand by college and university graduates wanting to get into the magazine industry, he said. Most Toronto Life interns do such work as fact-checking and research or online posting for Torontolife.com as well as participating in story conferences and production meetings.

Last June, the-then* minister of labour, Yasir Naqvi, responded to a call by the University of Toronto students' union for a ban on unpaid internships and said in a letter:

“If you perform work for someone – unless you are self-employed, in a co-op placement, or a trainee – you are an employee covered under the Employment Standards Act and should be paid – it doesn’t matter if you are called an ‘intern’ or not.”

According to the ministry website, interns are considered to be employees, entitled to the minimum wage (which will be $11 an hour starting June 1) and other employment benefits such as vacation pay, unless the internships meet ALL of the following under the terms of the Employment Standards Act:

1. The training is similar to that which is given in a vocational school. 
2. The training is for the benefit of the intern who receives some benefit from the training, such as new knowledge or skills.
3. The employer derives little, if any, benefit from the activity of the intern while he or she is being trained.
4. The intern's training doesn't take someone else's job.
5. The employer isn't promising a job at the end of the training.
6. The intern has been told that they will not be paid for their time.

*Naqvi was promoted in this week's cabinet shuffle to Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services; he was succeeded as Minister of Labour by Kevin Flynn.

MagAwards seeking two administrative interns

The National Magazine Awards Foundation is now accepting applications for two, paid administrative internships for the National Magazine Awards and the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards. Successful applicants receive $1,500 for the duration of the 5-month internship and work will range from 10 to 20 hours a week. Plus they receive two tickets to the National Magazine Awards gala, June 6. Deadline for applications is December 31. For more information http://blog.magazine-awards.com/category/national-magazine-awards/internships/

Universities wrestling with internship issues and the plight of the unpaid intern

Universities mean well and and are looking for work experiences for their students, but they are finding themselves facing increasing criticism recently, according to a cover story by Moira MacDonald in the latest issue of University Affairs magazine. 

It's not just a question of paid versus unpaid in many fields (and not just in magazines where unpaid internships are commonplace) but what the true educational value is. While employers may argue that mentoring an intern represents a cost to the company, universities are increasingly wary of being party to exploiting their students, displacing regular employees or failing to observe labour laws. 

The Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers, representing university career centres as well as businesses, issued an official statement in the spring of 2012 advising members against posting unpaid internships unless these met a set of criteria reflecting common labour law standards and ensuring educational value. This was after members started noticing “a significant jump” in unpaid internship postings and “in spaces that traditionally had only been paid,” says CACEE’s executive director Paul Smith.

Still, universities should think twice before adopting blanket policies that ban the posting of unpaid internship positions outright, says Nancy Johnson, senior director of student learning and retention at Simon Fraser University and an associate editor of the Journal of Cooperative Education and Internships.

Doing so means “you’ve eliminated an awful lot of learning opportunities for students, some of which they may be happy to do unpaid,” especially in the not-for-profit sector, Dr. Johnson says. Her university does not allow the posting of unpaid internships with for-profit companies but does allow them within the voluntary sector.

For instance, at Ryerson University, about 20 per cent of students still choose unpaid placements, often because they are so keen on working in a particular niche, and even though universities may make such work experience optional as part of course work or a degree. The key is structuring them properly, says the story, having clear policies and monitoring them (something that critics of routine and serial internships often say doesn't happen).  

[illustration by Leif Parsons]

When they were unpaid interns...

Interesting post on the 6th floor blog at the New York Times Magazine, with anonymous staffers recalling their unpaid internships. One of them was someone who did one at an (unnamed) Toronto magazine. What distinguishes most of the anecdotes is a) they mostly had fun or unusual duties, b) attributed their subsequent jobs to the experience and c) acknowledged they couldn't have done it without living off Mom and Dad or holding down another part-time job. 

One said an internship at a nonprofit quarterly about urban issues in Philadelphia required her make a trek every week from New York.

"It was an edifying and rewarding experience, which is apparently more than you can say for most magazine internships. And at the end, probably because they felt bad for me, they offered me my first paid writing job."

The Toronto example said, in part

"The internship was invaluable, and the only reason I could afford to do it was because a) I was also working a part-time job in a bookstore at night and on weekends, about an additional 20 hours a week, and b) this being Canada, the government of Ontario had a program that paid you minimum wage ($7 an hour at the time) to do an internship in a creative field. This program was, naturally, one of the first things cut when a new, cost-cutting, conservative government swept to power."

Are unpaid internships the new normal?

In the last three years, Fallis has used about 50 unpaid interns for duties in marketing, editorial, advertising, sales, account management and public relations. She's convinced it's the wave of the future in human resources. "Ten years from now, this is going to be the norm," she says.

-- From an article in Fortune magazine, quoting Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design services.The article, of course, relates to U.S. conditions and laws but raises some interesting questions about people -- such as interns -- being required to work for free, as is commonplace in the Canadian magazine industry.

Make internships in creative industries more accessible to the less well off, says UK report

Informal recruitment through word-of-mouth and social networks is one of the key reasons why young people from affluent families get ahead in creative industries such as publishing, according to a study released by the UK think tank Social Market Foundation.

In other words, to get your foot on the rungs of the ladder in design, publishing, architecture and advertising, it's not what you know so much as who you know. It's opportunity, rather than ability that is unevenly distributed, says Alan Milburn, who contributed a chapter to the study, which is entitled Disconnected: Social mobility and the creative industries. The report is available as a downloadable pdf.

The report says that networking is much more important than internships, which are out of reach of the less affluent, who can't afford to support their living costs while working unpaid.
Rather than focussing so much on phasing out unpaid internships (which, as readers of this blog will know are endemic in the magazine industry in Canada), the report recommends a concentration on ensuring that such opportunities are extended beyond the better off, giving opportunity to the widest possible range of young people.

In the introduction to the report, Milburn says:

Action is needed on several fronts. The creative industries could take a lead, for example, on internships. They have become a new rung on the professional ladder but they need to be brought out of the informal economy where they are at present and made far more widely accessible. The industry could establish a new Code of Practice to make internships more transparent, a new website to openly advertise them and a kitemark to recognise best practice.

Making a professional career open to the widest pool of talent is not about social engineering or dumbing down. It is about making current access routes fairer and ensuring that those young people who succeed in gaining a top job do so based on talent and merit alone.

"Come and run this magazine for nothing"

Time was that unpaid editorial internships were justified (unreasonably) by publishing companies on the basis that these weren't jobs, but an extension of a student's learning. However a friend points out that an internship posting on the Masthead job board by Totem, the custom media company, takes this to a whole new level. In return for bus fare, the sweeping job description for an "editorial assistant intern" says, in part:

The role of the Editorial Assistant Intern is to help in the writing, fact-checking, proofreading, and running of the magazine, to ensure the magazine is produced to schedule and to maintain the high quality of the publication. In addition, they [sic] will contribute to both the style and content of the magazine and assist in administrative processes.

National Magazine Awards looking for a few, good (paid) interns

The National Magazine Awards have always been a lean operation, charged with the daunting task of managing a mushrooming entry and judging process. This year the awards foundation is offering several paid internships to help carry the workload -- one each in Ontario, eastern Canada, western Canada and Quebec. The eastern, western and Quebec interns will work remotely; the Ontario intern will be partly remote and sometimes in the awards office as things heat up. The Quebec intern needs to be fluently bilingual. It's a great opportunity. To find out more, go to our job board over in the right sidebar and click on the link. The deadline for application is November 1.

Flare magazine posts a list of do's and don'ts for prospective interns

Flare magazine has posted a list of do's and don'ts for editorial interns. 

DO: Have a strong work ethic.Whoever said that fashion is all glitz and glamour has never worked in the industry. Moving your way up the ladder involves tedious tasks and physical labour - whether it’s sourcing an obscure prop for an upcoming shoot, or schlepping heavy luggage to set.

DO: Show off your keen fashion sense.In an industry of tastemakers, it’s important to practice what you preach. When it comes to dressing around the office it’s as much about who you’re wearing as it is about how you’re wearing it. I always take notice of a potential intern with an individual sense of style and a distinct point of view, price tag aside.

DON'T: Complain about the tasks.Editorial work is fast-paced and demanding, so there is little time for bad attitudes and diva behaviour. A positive outlook and readiness to lend a hand makes all the difference when the fashion closet starts to overflow with back-to-back shoots.

DON'T: Be late.With endless deadlines and early call times, our team relies on one another to keep the momentum going. We expect that our interns treat the internship as they would any full-time job, and that means showing up on time and performing tasks in a timely manner.

DO: Have an interest in fashion. This may seem like an obvious point, but I get a surprising number of applicants drawn to the idea of working at a fashion magazine without even the most basic fashion know-how. When it comes to working in editorial it is essential that you know your stuff and stay on the pulse, whether its through magazines, websites, blogs, or newspapers.

DO: Give us a reason to hire you.
Whether it’s a background in merchandising, styling or journalism, at the end of the day it’s that certain je ne sais quoi that seals the deal. Every intern we take on brings something unique to the table that makes them an integral part of the FLARE fashion team.

There is no indication that this strong work ethic, on-time performance or uncomplaining attitude is worth paying for in these four-month unpaid internships.

Canadian Living internship prize now to be paid

The Canadian Living Journalism Prize offered by Canadian Living magazine just became richer, as the previously unpaid 12-week internships that went to the winners will now pay $6,500 (about $500 a week). See the earlier post and the current information on Canadian Living.com. [h/t to Corinna Van Gerwen]

Related post:

• Canadian Living offers internships, publication and cash for journalism prize

Canadian Living offers internships, publication and cash for journalism prize

Canadian Living magazine is launching a competition for Canadian journalism students to earn cash prizes, publication in Canadian Living and on CanadianLiving.com, and to secure a 12-week editorial internship with the magazine in Toronto.

The Canadian Living Journalism Prize is open to current, full-time journalism students at a Canadian college or university. Applicants are asked to submit a completed application package and to make a pitch for a "perfect Canadian Living feature story".

The two, 12-week internships (May 25, 2010 to August 13, 2010) are themselves unpaid, but the two grand prize winners are awarded $1,500 as well as being published. Two second prize winners will receive $500 and be published. Two third prize winners will receive a $200 prize and be published.

The magazine says that it is proud that a number of former interns are now staffers.

Far from being underused coffee-getters, Canadian Living interns actively participate in the research and writing process and gain valuable experience working in a busy editorial environment. The winners of the Canadian Living Journalism Prize, who are awarded the 12-week internship, will receive the opportunity to research, write and fact-check stories, and will be encouraged to pitch their own story ideas. Interns will also have the chance to research, edit and produce content for CanadianLiving.com.

NUJ slams many internships as "bogus" free labour

The general secretary of the National Union of Journalists in Britain has slammed "bogus work experience" placements for exploiting aspiring journalists as free labour.

According to a story in Press Gazette, Jeremy Dear said too many employers used internships as a way of getting work done for free and welcomed new government plans to improve internship standards.

Dear’s comments follow the publication of the government’s Unleashing Aspirations report on equality which highlighted internships as one of the ways hopefuls from poorer backgrounds were excluded from entering professions such as journalism.

In a letter to the Guardian, Dear said: “While on-the-job work experience is an essential part of media training, bogus work experience placements are increasingly being used to fill long-term staffing gaps with free labour.”

This resulted, Dear said, in only those with the financial security of well-off families or a willingness to build up massive debts can get into careers in journalism.

“Just when we should be nurturing and supporting the people coming into the industry, media employers are exploiting dreams and excluding new talent.”

He added: “By ordering proper enforcement of the minimum wage in the media, it could help make our industry a far fairer place.”

The Aspirations report recommended establishing a code of best practice and an award scheme to create a universal high standard for internships. In testimony before the Panel on Fair Access to Professions, the NUJ said research had shown that over 3/4 of internships were unpaid and a quarter of the 640 graduates surveyed said the organizations they worked for could not function normally without interns.

A 2002 poll revealed that under 10 per cent of new entrants to journalism came from a working class background and just three per cent came from homes headed by semi-skilled or unskilled workers.