Sports Desk Internship, Dallas Morning News

Description:
Fall desk internship, 2009 – The Dallas Morning News is seeking 2009 spring or summer graduates for a 16-week desk internship running from late August to mid-December. The chosen applicant will be expected to be a full contributor to SportsDay's night desk. Applicants should have a strong interest in copy editing. Previous internship experience will be considered. Applicants should e-mail materials to sports editor Garry Leavell at gleavell@dallasnews.com.

 

Do I even bother asking whether or not this is paid? Will they at least let you live under your desk for free?

 

Translation: We fired all our high school writers and we now have to have interns take boxscores over the phone.

 

"Full contributor?" Are they going to chain you to that desk 40 hours a week so you can't run away when you see tumbleweed blowing through the newsroom?

 

No mention of pay and it's for graduates, meaning you can't have another job lined up and are, what, sort of killing time after college before starting a paying career? If that's the case, then this is some serious exploitation.

 

It's doubtful (I think/hope) that a desk internship at a paper this size would be unpaid. If it is, then I'm with Editude.

That said, I am once again bothered by the fact that seemingly all of the most quality possibilities -- as in things like this that could generally lead to something else of quality, or to something beyond covering high schools at small papers for 15 years or 20 years -- are being offered only to 22- to 25-year-olds these days.

This business truly is completely cutting out the "middle class," so to speak.

It's sickening.

 

As one of those 22-to-25-year-olds I can tell you it's just as bad for us, and right now it's not us scooping up those jobs. I've personally lost out on one job (and have had friends miss out on several others) because guys who had been in the business for years were applying for $20,000-24,000/yr jobs.

It's a rough business for everyone, obviously, but several very, very talented kids I know are already going to law school or going after some other careers because there's pretty much no way to get a job in this market when all you've got is an internship or two and "college paper sports editor" on your resume.

 

That is my point.

You should not be scooping up these jobs, or be the ones being targeted for them.

This is a quality opening that someone in mid-career would probably kill for, at any rate of pay, just for the upward move and the lateral and/or future possibilities.

But, no. It's being offered to kids in school and recent grads.

So yes, it leaves me just a little bit ticked off, you know, as I go on my merry way and keep trying for jobs that I've already been doing for 15 years...while you haven't.

And that, my friend, is the difference.

 

So you're saying that you're jealous that recent grads get the chance to work for free?? Lol you must really have a strong interest in copy editing..

 

Have we determined that this is an unpaid position? I don't think so, and I highly doubt that it is.

LOL if you'd like, but no, I don't have a strong interest in working for free.

I have a strong interest in, and am more than ready and qualified for, a position that would involve more and/or something different, than covering preps at small papers.

I've already done that, a lot, and well, and at a much higher level than you have, at not-so-small papers, even, for not much more money than the positions available these days are offering, anyway.

And so, you know what? At this point, I barely care what a position pays anymore, not because I really don't care about that, but because I'd like to keep my career alive, because I think I still have something to offer and contribute to this business, and because I'm an established adult in mid-career who owns a home, without a spouse, and who cannot as easily as you decide to go off and take the time to become a lawyer, or anything else, instead.

When I look at job ads now, my interest is in the position and the work itself, and the possibility for growth, change and development, either immediately, or down the road.

And, as I said, this is a quality shot at a recognized, heretofore quality paper that every single grad on this board should looking into so that maybe you can shave a good 10 years, at least, off of your career arc. If that assessment of the situation by me makes me jealous, well, then, yes, I'm jealous.

I realize this is a sad indictment of the upward mobility that's generally available right now, but it is the reality of the situation. If I were you, I'd take heed, and not just laugh out loud.

 

I feel your pain. There are too many of us in that boat.

While I don't think this is unpaid --- and, yes, I did an unpaid internship back in my university days --- it is aimed at young people and probably pays $10-12 per hour. Don't go in planning on wiggling your way to something permanent that pays 30k or so. You go, work your best for four months, move on and let someone else sit in your chair. Then you go apply for the SE job at a weekly making 19k.

 

I see where you're coming from and, to be honest, I don't think this job market is fair to anyone. There are a ton of quality, unemployed reporters out there and a very small amount of job openings, almost none of them that well-paying.

As for this particular job, it's likely paid somewhere in the range of $350-500 a week, as most large dailies have been paying their interns from my experience. But then again, many of these papers and outlets are moving to an unpaid internship (MLB.com's internship program, for example), so there's no telling unless someone says something.

Since I'm not applying for this job, I'm not going to add to what I'm sure is an already overfilled editor's inbox to further a discussion on an Internet forum, but my guess it's about $400 a week.