Comments on: Do interns need a Bill of Rights? Maybe the New York Times could take the lead

By: Andre Friedmann

Andre Friedmann — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:51:25 +0000

My former employer, a public college in New York, specializes in placing its enrolled students in unpaid internships. The college grants academic credit to students who work for free on projects and at internships. Those organizations (public and private) no longer pay staffers or contractors for the work performed by interns: they simply get new student interns each semester.

By: Media contributor

Media contributor — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:46:41 +0000

I disagree with this idea. Interns and freelance contributors should be paid fairly for their work and be allowed to buy into insurance plans. Otherwise, interns and freelancers will continue to be exploited–even if their employers are offering mentorship and practical training.

By: Tara

Tara — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:51:20 +0000

Although different, many legal internships are also unpaid. Generally, one does sign a contract with one’s supervising attorney stipulating the exchange of services for a learning experience, education, school credit, etc. Maybe the fashion and media industries could benefit from this model. That being said, I have found in my personal experience that employers define the term “education” very loosely, and the interns leave without having gained any knowledge or experience. However, I believe it’s on the intern to know when they are being misued and to leave that situation.

Mark has a good point about stewardship, but as far as rich kids being the only unpaid interns, I don’t think that’s quite accurate. Maybe law is different, but everyone I knew did unpaid internships while living off their small student loan budgets. After graduation, I worked at a firm where all of the interns (6) had other paid part-time or full-time positions to pay the bills and did the internship on the side because it was the area of law they wanted to practice in.

By: Mark Herman Simon

Mark Herman Simon — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:11:25 +0000

The problem I see with interns in media is we get two consistent patterns. One, we view them as free labor and for the most part they do very little real work and many do not take the time to train them. Stewardship is dead. Two, we get the rich kids. Who can afford to chase an unpaid internship?

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:22:39 +0000

I don’t currently use interns, but this idea stinks. Internships are for the purpose of getting experience, and building a resume, not compensation. If you make it a p.i.t.a. to hire interns, the number of internships will plummet. Students will thank you. Not.

By: David Thomas

David Thomas — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:13:50 +0000

There was a follow up article in the NYTimes featuring the ideas of a lawyer who specializes in advising firms on the use of interns. A key comment was that paying an intern minimum wage should not be a burden to the firm — many internships hover around 20 hours per week. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/the-uses-and-misuses-of-unpaid-internships/