Many industries exploit students and young jobseekers through the dubious practice of unpaid interning, but the media industry, where competition for a foot in the door is fierce, is likely among the worst.
However, Atlantic Media, which publishes The Atlantic and The National Journal, has announced it will begin to pay all its previously unpaid interns. Apparently the decision followed an article in last week’s New York Times, ‘The Unpaid Intern, Legal or Not’.
Yesterday, we decided to pay, retroactively, both last year’s interns and our current class. We convened our current interns this morning to tell them the news. Some messages are easier to deliver than others. Telling them they would be paid was on the easier side.