When I was a journalism student at the University of Kansas, I had the opportunity to take part in a couple of internships for a magazine – one over a winter break and one in the summer. While I was working there, I edited articles, wrote headlines, researched websites for an advertiser project and made sales calls. For all of that, I was officially paid a grand total of zero dollars. Well, that’s technically not true; they slipped me some money on a couple of occasions. But when you factor in the gas money, train tickets and lunch money I spent, I lost money while working – for “experience.”
My industry is notorious for sticking it to journalism interns at every opportunity. Magazines and newspapers have worked interns hard, giving them experience in the industry while never paying a dime for the pleasure. Did those interns gain experience? They did – they learned that journalism requires 80 hours of work a week and pays for a few hours as possible. The smart ones learned that lesson well and moved found a new career. Those of us dumb or naïve enough to stay in it entered journalism knowing that we’ll never be valued properly, but that we can get free labor from college students and call it an internship.