As if being expected to work for free wasn’t bad enough, Condé Nast have auctioned a week-long internship. A snip at £3,700.
Whilst this sort of extortion is pretty rare, what’s not uncommon is the exploitation of those seeking to get a break in the media.
The NUJ’s recent survey of those currently doing work experience revealed that almost 25 per cent of people entering the industry were doing unpaid work experience for more than three months at a time. That’s not work experience, that’s work. And it’s unlawful.
I remember my work experience days well. I learned how to make a serviceable cup of tea but I also learned many valuable career skills that are with me to this day. I shadowed senior reporters in council, court and at sports events; sat with subs to learn their craft; was shown the ropes by photographers.
Work experience is an invaluable way to gain the practical hands-on experience required to secure that crucial first job. But this should never mean months of unpaid exploitation at the hands of wealthy employers enjoying cheap or free labour.
If it does it creates barriers to becoming a journalist. Only those wealthy or well-connected enough can break in. Just three per cent of new entrants to journalism come from homes headed by unskilled workers and only four per cent come from ethnic minority backgrounds. Unpaid internships or the sale of work experience opportunities reinforce these barriers and journalism itself is poorer if the workforce fails to reflect the diverse communities that make up our society.
The NUJ remains dedicated to making work experience a chance to realise the dream of becoming a journalist, not a nightmare.
by Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the NUJ