Trentonian Internships

This probably won't end well, but might provide a few chuckles until then. The Trentonian is seeking news and sports interns. Ad doesn't specify whether they're paid positions or not, but we can probably take an educated guess.
Just out of curiosity, is the Trentonian's rep still a rough one? Has it improved any in the last couple years?
The ad from JJobs...

 

Make sure you get that a morning shift at McDonalds to supplement your income. Or, make sure daddy pays for everything.

 

It is unpaid---- this has to violate some sort of labor law?

 

Unpaid internships are hardly new.

 

I don't think they have to be paid if the interns receive college credit.

Oh, and paging BYH to the white courtesy phone.

 

I believe even that is now coming in for scrutiny. Pretty sure we had a thread on it a while back; IIRC, the gist was that, effectively, the newspaper can't really benefit from having an unpaid intern. So they can't do things like give the intern a beat to cover that wouldn't otherwise be covered, or put the intern into a page-design rotation wherein they're doing pages on a needs basis. (As in, the intern's the only reason the thing's getting out at all.)

 

It says it right there in the ad that it's unpaid. As a former Trentonian intern, I'll say that if you can afford the unpaid position for college credit, send in your information immediately, and live on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. Matthew Osborne and Ben Doody are great to learn from.

 

Yeah the college credit is great and all, but you still have to PAY for those credits. It's just like another class, but one that gives you real world experience. I still think it's stupid, every intern should get paid. It's the papers being cheap to get help. It's a joke. It's taking advantage a naive student workforce.

 

Sorry, the BYH line doesn't work anymore. It's a different company now, run totally differently.

Also, NightHawk hit the nail on the head: The sports department has been hopping the last 12 months because of the work Ben Doody has done bringing in go-getter interns, who have done a solid job. If you're an aspiring sports journalist, you will get your fingernails dirty the day you begin in the Trentonian sports department. But if you don't like that kind of thing, go right ahead and start flipping those burgers. You can't ask for a better manager to work for than Ben.

 

No, it will always work.

The JRC is scum. I'm sure there are great people and great journalists at the Trentonian. Doesn't mean the bean counters are any less scuzzy.

 

Amen.

 

It doesn't work in this case. I heard all the horror stories about the Trentonian 2 1/2 years ago when I was looking at taking this position from everyone. I decided to ignore all the advice and take a chance on it.

Other than picking an apartment on the New Jersey side of the river, it's one of the best decisions I ever made. If I could do it again, I'd live in Pennsylvania, but otherwise, there's not a thing I regret about working at the Trentonian.