Young things aspiring to work as interns on fashion magazines or elsewhere in media might want to read Jessica Testa's story about ex-Harper's Bazaar intern Jessica Wang, (The Woman Who Could Bring Down Fashion Internships) (Buzzfeed, Sept 2012). Wang is suing Harper's Bazaar. Bottom line; interns on fashion magazines schlep expensive goods around town for little or no money, sometimes benefiting from perks such as closeness to famous names in the industry, but not necessarily learning much about the profession. The industry is glamorous enough that it can take advantage of free or token-payment labor, justified as "educational."
College students find many of the internships posted in Ed2000 ("a volunteer, networking and mentoring organization committed to helping aspiring and junior-level editors reach their dream magazine job"). Ed2000 published an interview with Wang about her suit: Exclusive Ed Interview: Diana Wang, the Intern Muckraker? Wang told reporter Gennifer Delman: "Once upon a time, companies used to invest in entry-level workers. They used to train them and spend money investing in employees and they don’t do that anymore. They’re just using interns more and more to do entry-level work.
Kayleen Schaefer, in The Norma Rae of Fashion Interns (New York Magazine, 9-11-12), writes: "She chafed at tasks unrelated to the magazine’s operations, like hand-delivering new outfits to editors between Fashion Week shows. 'It kind of felt like you were working in shipping and receiving,' Wang says. "
Interns on the Charlie Rose show, which is also being sued (Former Intern at ‘Charlie Rose’ Sues, Alleging Wage Law Violations (Steven Greenhouse, Media Decoder, NY Times, 3-14-12), also work hard, often at jobs that might teach them something about producing a show. Writes Greenhouse: "The lawsuit noted that unpaid internships have proliferated among many white-collar professions, including film, journalism, fashion and book publishing. Elizabeth Wagoner, a lawyer for Ms. [Lucy] Bickerton, said: “Systematic violation of federal and state laws that coverage internships appears all too common at some media companies. More and more unpaid interns are standing up for their right to earn a wage for their work.” See also Greenhouse's The Unpaid Intern, Legal or Not?
Lawsuits from unpaid interns are not a new phenomenon. In a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight Pictures, which produced the movie "The Black Swan," two men who worked on the film as unpaid interns claimed last year that "the interns do menial work that should have been done by paid employees and did not provide them with the type of educational experience that labor rules require in order to exempt employers from paying interns." (Steven Greenhouse, Interns, Unpaid by a Studio, File Suit, Business Day, NY Times, 9-28-11). Plaintiff Alex Footman, who majored in film studies at Wesleyan, "said his responsibilities included preparing coffee for the production office, ensuring that the coffee pot was full, taking and distributing lunch orders for the production staff, taking out the trash and cleaning the office." Plaintiff Eric Glatt, MBA, an accounting intern for “Black Swan," said he "prepared documents for purchase orders and petty cash, traveled to the set to obtain signatures on documents and created spreadsheets to track missing information in employee personnel file."
The U.S. Dept of Labor's six criteria for unpaid internships are as follows:
1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
Thanks to Anita Bartholomew for calling my attention to the Buzzfeed story, which linked to most of the other stories mentioned above.
Writers and Editors (Pat McNees's blog) RSS feed
Unpaid internships under fire
September 25, 2012
Tags: unpaid internships, interns, magazines, media, Department of Labor

Pat McNees, speaking to Association of Personal Historians, 2015 (photo by Pam McComb-Podmostko)
Archives
- January 2019 ( 1 )
- June 2018 ( 1 )
- May 2018 ( 3 )
- April 2018 ( 1 )
- March 2018 ( 1 )
- December 2017 ( 1 )
- September 2017 ( 1 )
- August 2017 ( 2 )
- July 2017 ( 3 )
- May 2017 ( 1 )
- March 2017 ( 2 )
- February 2017 ( 1 )
- January 2017 ( 1 )
- December 2016 ( 1 )
- November 2016 ( 1 )
- October 2016 ( 1 )
- September 2016 ( 1 )
- May 2016 ( 3 )
- April 2016 ( 1 )
- March 2016 ( 2 )
- February 2016 ( 1 )
- January 2016 ( 3 )
- November 2015 ( 2 )
- October 2015 ( 1 )
- September 2015 ( 2 )
- August 2015 ( 2 )
- May 2015 ( 1 )
- March 2015 ( 3 )
- February 2015 ( 1 )
- January 2015 ( 3 )
- December 2014 ( 2 )
- June 2014 ( 3 )
- May 2014 ( 2 )
- April 2014 ( 1 )
- November 2013 ( 1 )
- October 2013 ( 2 )
- September 2013 ( 1 )
- August 2013 ( 1 )
- June 2013 ( 1 )
- May 2013 ( 1 )
- March 2013 ( 4 )
- January 2013 ( 2 )
- December 2012 ( 2 )
- November 2012 ( 2 )
- October 2012 ( 1 )
- September 2012 ( 2 )
- August 2012 ( 3 )
- July 2012 ( 1 )
- June 2012 ( 2 )
- May 2012 ( 1 )
- April 2012 ( 4 )
- March 2012 ( 4 )
- February 2012 ( 8 )
- January 2012 ( 7 )
- December 2011 ( 4 )
- November 2011 ( 1 )
- October 2011 ( 2 )
- September 2011 ( 2 )
- July 2011 ( 3 )
- June 2011 ( 3 )
- May 2011 ( 4 )
- April 2011 ( 4 )
- March 2011 ( 8 )
- February 2011 ( 6 )
- January 2011 ( 5 )
- December 2010 ( 6 )
- November 2010 ( 2 )
- October 2010 ( 7 )
- September 2010 ( 2 )
- August 2010 ( 6 )
- July 2010 ( 7 )
- June 2010 ( 12 )
- May 2010 ( 6 )
- April 2010 ( 4 )
- March 2010 ( 4 )
- February 2010 ( 7 )
- January 2010 ( 5 )
- December 2009 ( 8 )
- November 2009 ( 7 )
- September 2009 ( 8 )
- August 2009 ( 4 )
- July 2009 ( 4 )
- June 2009 ( 9 )
- May 2009 ( 9 )
- April 2009 ( 12 )
Tags
- AHCJ ( 1 )
- APH history ( 1 )
- ASJA ( 1 )
- ASJA conference ( 1 )
- Adobe Acrobat ( 1 )
- Adobe Acrobat Reader ( 1 )
- Affordable Care Act ( 1 )
- African culture ( 1 )
- Agassi ( 1 )
- Amanda Hocking ( 1 )
- Amazon ( 9 )
- American Society for Indexing ( 1 )
- Apple ( 1 )
- Apple in China ( 1 )
- Arlene Friedman ( 1 )
- Arlene Shepherd ( 1 )
- Association of Personal Historians ( 2 )
- Audacity ( 1 )
- Authors Guild ( 2 )
- Authors Guild. writers' rights ( 1 )
- Barnes & Noble ( 2 )
- Ben Patton ( 1 )
- Big 5 ( 1 )
- British vs. American punctuation ( 1 )
- Buzzfeed ( 1 )
- Carla King ( 1 )
- Carlisle Indian School ( 1 )
- CreateSpace ( 3 )
- DIY ( 1 )
- DIY publishing ( 1 )
- DOJ ( 1 )
- DRM ( 1 )
- Debbie Brodsky ( 1 )
- Demand Media ( 1 )
- Department of Labor ( 1 )
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( 1 )
- Doodle ( 1 )
- Dragon Naturally Speaking ( 2 )
- Dublin Core ( 1 )
- EAN ( 1 )
- ESPN ( 1 )
- Editing ( 1 )
- Elsevier ( 2 )
- EndNote ( 1 )
- EventBrite ( 1 )
- Evernote ( 1 )
- FAQs ( 1 )
- Final Cut Pro ( 1 )
- Firestone Tires ( 1 )
- Freemium ( 1 )
- GTIN ( 1 )
- Gawker ( 1 )
- Getting paid ( 1 )
- Google ( 4 )
- Google Book Settlement ( 1 )
- Google settlement ( 1 )
- Guided Autobiography ( 2 )
- Guided Autobiography Group ( 1 )
- Hachette ( 1 )
- Harold Shepherd ( 1 )
- ICIJ ( 1 )
- ISBN ( 1 )
- ISBN barcodes ( 1 )
- Internet rules ( 1 )
- Ira Glass ( 1 )
- James Frey ( 1 )
- Jane Austen ( 1 )
- Japan ( 1 )
- Jewish fiction ( 1 )
- Joel Friedlander ( 1 )
- John Kremer ( 1 )
- Keith Waterhouse ( 1 )
- KickStarter ( 1 )
- Kickstarter ( 1 )
- Kindle ( 6 )
- Kirkus ( 1 )
- LibraryThing ( 1 )
- Lightning Source ( 2 )
- Lisa Smith-Youngs ( 1 )
- LiveScribe Echo Pen ( 1 )
- MacArthur Grants ( 1 )
- Massachusetts ( 1 )
- Memoir ( 1 )
- Mike Daisey ( 1 )
- Moehringer ( 1 )
- NASW ( 1 )
- Net Neutrality ( 1 )
- Nieman ( 1 )
- O'Reilly ( 1 )
- Obamacare ( 1 )
- PEN ( 1 )
- POD ( 1 )
- POD publishing ( 2 )
- PW ( 1 )
- Panama Papers ( 1 )
- Pat McNees ( 1 )
- Pat McNees video ( 1 )
- Posen Foundation ( 1 )
- PowerPoint ( 1 )
- PublishersMarketplace ( 1 )
- RTIR ( 1 )
- Reminiscence ( 1 )
- Righthaven ( 1 )
- Rodale ( 1 )
- SCBWI ( 1 )
- ScanSnap iX500 ( 1 )
- Scanner Pro ( 1 )
- Sci-Hub ( 1 )
- Scrivener ( 1 )
- Self-publishing ( 1 )
- Seth Godin ( 1 )
- Settlement ( 1 )
- Shatzkin ( 2 )
- SignUp Genius ( 1 )
- Smashwords ( 1 )
- Social networking ( 1 )
- Sree Sreenivasan ( 1 )
- TED ( 1 )
- TED talk ( 1 )
- Talking Writing ( 1 )
- The Godfather ( 1 )
- The Innocence Project ( 1 )
- Tools of Change ( 1 )
- Twitter ( 3 )
- Typinator ( 1 )
- URL shortening ( 1 )
- USP ( 1 )
- Washington Biography Group ( 1 )
- Wiley ( 1 )
- Wordle ( 1 )
- Words or phrases to catagorize this post for the tags section ( 1 )
- Words or phrases to categorize this post for the tags section ( 1 )
- Yasiv.com ( 1 )
- academic journals ( 1 )
- accuracy in reporting ( 1 )
- acid-free ( 1 )
- advances ( 1 )
- advice ( 1 )
- agency model ( 1 )
- agency pricing ( 1 )
- agents ( 2 )
- all rights ( 1 )
- all-rights contracts ( 1 )
- analog ( 1 )
- and Lulu ( 1 )
- apostrophes ( 1 )
- archival boxes ( 1 )
- archives ( 3 )
- archivists ( 1 )
- aspiring writers ( 1 )
- audio ( 1 )
- audio and video equipment ( 1 )
- author interviews ( 1 )
- author websites ( 1 )
- author's estate ( 1 )
- author's first book ( 1 )
- authors ( 2 )
- autobiography ( 3 )
- automation ( 1 )
- back pain ( 1 )
- best TV shows ( 1 )
- beta reader ( 1 )
- biography ( 2 )
- blogs ( 3 )
- blurb ( 1 )
- book art ( 1 )
- book contracts ( 2 )
- book doctors ( 2 )
- book festival ( 1 )
- book jackets ( 1 )
- book marketing ( 1 )
- book packaging ( 1 )
- book promotion ( 1 )
- book proposals ( 1 )
- book publishers ( 2 )
- book publishing ( 17 )
- book sales ( 1 )
- book scanning ( 1 )
- bookish ( 1 )
- books ( 1 )
- books sales ( 1 )
- bookselling ( 1 )
- bookstores ( 1 )
- branding ( 1 )
- cable companies ( 1 )
- careers ( 1 )
- censorship ( 2 )
- charities ( 1 )
- children's books ( 2 )
- chronic diseases ( 1 )
- clicks ( 1 )
- co-op terms ( 1 )
- collaboration ( 4 )
- commas ( 1 )
- competition ( 1 )
- concussion ( 1 )
- conflict ( 1 )
- conspiracy theory ( 1 )
- consulting editors ( 2 )
- content farms ( 1 )
- content mills ( 1 )
- copy edit ( 1 )
- copy editing ( 2 )
- copy protection ( 1 )
- copyediting ( 3 )
- copyright ( 8 )
- copyright termination ( 1 )
- corrections and errors ( 1 )
- cost ( 1 )
- cover art ( 1 )
- credibility ( 2 )
- crime fiction ( 1 )
- critiquing ( 1 )
- defamation ( 1 )
- digital ( 3 )
- digital journalism ( 1 )
- digital media ( 1 )
- digital publishing ( 4 )
- digital rights management ( 1 )
- digitizing ( 1 )
- directory ( 1 )
- disabilities ( 1 )
- disclosure ( 1 )
- disinformation ( 1 )
- docent ( 1 )
- documentary filmmakers ( 1 )
- e-books ( 17 )
- e-singles ( 1 )
- ePub ( 1 )
- ebooks ( 12 )
- edit index ( 1 )
- edit/proof for formatting ( 1 )
- editing ( 10 )
- editing costs ( 1 )
- editors ( 6 )
- electronic media ( 1 )
- elevator speech ( 1 )
- endnotes ( 1 )
- equipment ( 1 )
- errors and omissions ( 1 )
- ethics ( 2 )
- fabrication ( 1 )
- fact-checking ( 2 )
- fair use ( 2 )
- faith ( 1 )
- false light ( 1 )
- false memories ( 1 )
- family history ( 2 )
- fees ( 2 )
- fiction ( 5 )
- food ( 1 )
- footnotes ( 1 )
- formats ( 1 )
- formatting ( 1 )
- free speech ( 1 )
- freelance ( 5 )
- freelance rates ( 1 )
- fundraising ( 1 )
- future of news ( 1 )
- genetic disorders ( 1 )
- getting published ( 1 )
- ghost writer ( 1 )
- ghost writing ( 2 )
- ghostwriting ( 2 )
- gift books ( 2 )
- grammar ( 1 )
- grammar and style ( 5 )
- graphic design ( 1 )
- graphic novels ( 1 )
- great TV ( 1 )
- half-truths ( 1 )
- health beat ( 1 )
- health policy coverage ( 1 )
- health reform ( 1 )
- history ( 3 )
- holiday gifts ( 2 )
- honors ( 1 )
- iPad ( 1 )
- ifttt ( 1 )
- illness ( 1 )
- illness as narrative ( 1 )
- images ( 1 )
- income inequality ( 1 )
- indemnification ( 2 )
- indemnity ( 1 )
- index ( 1 )
- indexers ( 1 )
- indexing ( 1 )
- inspirational ( 1 )
- insurance ( 1 )
- intellectual property ( 1 )
- interactive ( 1 )
- international ( 1 )
- interns ( 1 )
- interviewee's rights ( 1 )
- interviews ( 2 )
- intrusion ( 1 )
- invasion of privacy ( 2 )
- investigative journalism ( 1 )
- investigative reporting ( 1 )
- italics ( 1 )
- journal ( 1 )
- journalism ( 4 )
- labor unions ( 1 )
- levels of edit ( 1 )
- liability and media perils insurance ( 1 )
- libel ( 1 )
- libraries ( 5 )
- licensing ( 1 )
- line edit ( 1 )
- line editing ( 2 )
- link journalism ( 1 )
- literary awards ( 1 )
- litigation ( 1 )
- live-blogging ( 1 )
- loss-leader discounting ( 1 )
- magazines ( 2 )
- mark-ups ( 1 )
- market research ( 1 )
- marketing ( 6 )
- media ( 2 )
- media literacy ( 1 )
- media perils ( 1 )
- medical narrative ( 1 )
- medical news ( 1 )
- medical writing ( 1 )
- meet-up groups ( 1 )
- memoir ( 8 )
- memoir coach ( 1 )
- memoir writing ( 3 )
- memoirs ( 8 )
- memory ( 1 )
- memory and identity ( 1 )
- mental illness ( 1 )
- metadata ( 2 )
- microphone ( 1 )
- mild traumatic brain injury ( 1 )
- misinformation ( 1 )
- mobi ( 1 )
- morning rounds ( 1 )
- multicultural understanding ( 1 )
- multimedia ( 5 )
- multimodal teaching ( 1 )
- music and images ( 1 )
- narrative ( 1 )
- narrative medicine ( 1 )
- narrative nonfiction ( 4 )
- nonfiction ( 1 )
- nonprofits ( 1 )
- offset printing ( 1 )
- offshore accounts ( 1 )
- online course ( 1 )
- open access ( 2 )
- oral history ( 2 )
- oral history as documentation ( 1 )
- oral storytelling ( 1 )
- organizing notes ( 1 )
- orphan books ( 1 )
- pH pen ( 1 )
- patricia hampl ( 1 )
- patronage ( 2 )
- per diem ( 1 )
- permissions edit ( 1 )
- persona ( 1 )
- personal historian ( 1 )
- personal history ( 6 )
- photo and caption edit ( 1 )
- pirated papers ( 1 )
- pitches ( 1 )
- plagiarism ( 3 )
- political debates ( 1 )
- political lies ( 1 )
- political rhetoric ( 1 )
- popular authors ( 1 )
- pre-edit ( 1 )
- presentations ( 1 )
- preservation ( 1 )
- press releases ( 1 )
- price wars ( 1 )
- pricing ( 2 )
- pricing strategy ( 1 )
- print on demand ( 4 )
- privacy ( 1 )
- prizes ( 1 )
- process ( 1 )
- process journalism ( 1 )
- production ( 1 )
- production edit ( 1 )
- productivity ( 1 )
- productivity tools ( 1 )
- profits ( 1 )
- promotion ( 3 )
- proofreading ( 1 )
- public domain. copyright search ( 1 )
- publicity ( 2 )
- publishers liability ( 1 )
- publishing ( 9 )
- publishing economics ( 1 )
- publishing process ( 1 )
- publishing professionals ( 1 )
- punctuation ( 1 )
- punctuation problems ( 1 )
- questions ( 1 )
- quotation marks ( 1 )
- radio ( 1 )
- rates ( 2 )
- reader reviews ( 1 )
- reading devices ( 1 )
- recapture ( 1 )
- recommended reading ( 3 )
- reconstructed memories ( 1 )
- recording ( 1 )
- references ( 1 )
- reminiscence ( 1 )
- reporting on controversial topics ( 1 )
- restaurants ( 1 )
- retraction ( 1 )
- reviews ( 1 )
- revisions ( 1 )
- right of publicity ( 1 )
- rights ( 10 )
- rights and copyright ( 1 )
- royalties ( 3 )
- rules for writing ( 2 )
- scanning ( 1 )
- scanning letters ( 1 )
- scanning photographs ( 1 )
- scholarship ( 1 )
- science ( 2 )
- science journalism ( 1 )
- search engines ( 1 )
- self publishing ( 1 )
- self-publishing ( 10 )
- series ( 1 )
- settlement ( 1 )
- show and tell ( 1 )
- social media ( 2 )
- social media marketing ( 1 )
- social networking ( 1 )
- solvency ( 1 )
- song lyrics ( 1 )
- soundbyte ( 1 )
- story structure ( 1 )
- storytelling ( 3 )
- style ( 1 )
- style guides ( 1 )
- substantive edit ( 1 )
- symptoms of aging ( 1 )
- talk shows ( 1 )
- testimonial ( 1 )
- timesavers ( 2 )
- tools ( 1 )
- tour ( 1 )
- trends ( 1 )
- tributes ( 1 )
- trimming flab ( 1 )
- truth ( 1 )
- truth vs. accuracy ( 1 )
- tutorials ( 2 )
- twitter ( 1 )
- unpaid internships ( 1 )
- veterans ( 1 )
- video ( 3 )
- video interviews ( 1 )
- video tribute ( 1 )
- video tributes ( 1 )
- vintage music ( 1 )
- viral ( 1 )
- virtual media training ( 1 )
- voice ( 1 )
- war ( 1 )
- warranties ( 1 )
- warranty ( 1 )
- what editors do ( 2 )
- what to watch tonight ( 1 )
- will ( 1 )
- will and testament ( 1 )
- wisdom ( 1 )
- women's magazines ( 1 )
- work for hire ( 4 )
- writers ( 1 )
- writing ( 4 )
- writing communities ( 1 )
- writing workshop ( 1 )
Affiliate notice: Purchase something from Amazon after clicking on a link here and this site is paid a small commission, which helps support its development and maintenance (link-checking, etc.)
Godwin's Law: ""As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches"
~ Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies, fearing glib use of the term will dilute the meaning of "Never Again"
~ Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies, fearing glib use of the term will dilute the meaning of "Never Again"
Quick Links
E-mail Pat
(pat at patmcnees dot com)
Dying: A Book of Comfort
This site built to support the book expanded into Illness and Recovery
Writers on Writing
(complete archive of the NY Times series, writers exploring literary themes. Requires free membership.)
Letters of Note
(fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos--that you were never expected to see)
Aha Moments
(from the brilliant Mutual of Omaha campaign to record people's stories about moments of clarity, defining moments when they gained the wisdom to change their life)
TED: Ideas worth sharing
Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world
Freelance National Anthem
(Bill Dyszel, 4 minutes)
KeepMeOut
(addicted to a website? bookmark this page and it will remind you to get back to work!)

Websites, organizations, and other resources
A GREAT READ
Blog roll, too
and communities of book lovers
Best reads and most "discussable"
Fact-finding, fact-checking, conversion tables, checking fake news, and news and info resources
Recommended reading
long-form journalism, e-singles, online aggregators
BOOK AND MAGAZINE PUBLISHING
New, used, rare books, Amazon, etc. Where to donate or recycle.
And the art of the pitch
Blogs, social media, SEO, podcasts, ezines, survey tools and online games
How much to charge and so on (for creative entrepreneurs)
Job boards and sites posting freelance gigs
Blogs, video promotion, intelligent radio programs
Ebooks/digital publishing, audiobooks, and changes in publishing. See also Self-Publishing
Indie publishing, digital publishing, POD, how-to sources
Includes original text by Sarah Wernick
WRITERS AND CREATORS
Multimedia, cartoons, maps, charts and so on
Plus contests, other sources of funds for creators
Plus book fairs and festivals, writers colonies (residences, communities, retreats)
Copywriting, speechwriting, marketing, training, and writing for government
Literary and commercial (including genre)
(plus TV and cable)
Writing, reporting, multimedia, equipment, software
Translators, indexers, designers, photographers, artists, illustrators, animators, cartoonists, image professionals, composers
including personal essays, academic writing, footnotes and citations
Groups for writers who specialize in animals, children's books, food, gardens, family history, resumes, sports, travel, Webwriting, and wine (etc.)
Writers on offices, standing desks, rejection, writer's block, procrastination, and other features of the writing life
ETHICS, RIGHTS, AND OTHER ISSUES
Fair use, public domain, book contracts, licensing, permissions, rights clearance, reversion of rights, digital rights, DMCA takedown notices, net neutrality
First Amendment issues, free speech, invasion of privacy, online privacy, plagiarism, libel, censorship, banned books, media watchdogs, FOIA, protection for whistleblowers
EDITORS AND EDITING
and copyeditors, proofreaders, indexers, and translators
The parts of a book
And views on the author-editor relationship