The Guardian has turned complaining about unpaid internships and the exploitation of interns into a crusade, publishing close to a dozen articles on the subject over the past few years.
However, the publication doesn’t put its money where its mouth is: The paper is offers internships to prospective journalists from BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) backgrounds. The program is unpaid, and students and graduates who take the Guardian up on its offer will only be able to request reimbursement for travel expenses, but not their output.
The advertisement for the unpaid internship program promises training for successful applicants, who will learn about “different aspects of the profession, gaining an insight into the workings of the newspaper, website, and multimedia department.”
The first thing they’ll learn is that writers don’t get paid. They’ll also learn that internships are all work and no play.
The internship program is open to 12 two-week placements each summer, which the company runs to build ethnic representation and diversity in journalism. At the end of the two weeks, applicants can choose to return to work for an additional unpaid week.
As an employer, the Guardian must find unpaid internships massively appealing—the company lost $87 million last financial year. (Perhaps that has something to do with all the articles promoting social justice and outrage over meaningless subjects like cultural appropriation.) The website requests public donations to fund its articles.
But the Guardian would do well to read one of its many articles on unpaid internships, which it called a “culture of privilege ruining journalism.” Here they are—in case it has trouble finding them:
‘Join the fight against unpaid internships’
‘Unpaid internships and a culture of privilege are ruining journalism’
‘We shouldn’t have to work for free’
‘Are you rich enough to bid for a City AM internship?’
Unpaid internships rig the system. Curb them now
The young are paying for the privilege of unpaid work and it’s further entrenching inequality
The Guardian view on social mobility: the class ceiling
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
