PT intern copy editors, Bleacher Report, Inc.

[bpoindexter]

As posted on journalismjobs.com, and sorry if this already has been posted:

Company: Bleacher Report, Inc
Position: Seeking Online Sports Copy Editing Interns
Location: Telecommute, Work Remotely, All Locations
Job Status: Part-time
Salary: Unpaid Intern
Ad Expires: May 6, 2012
Job ID: 1195039
Website: http://www.bleacherreport.com

Description:
Bleacher Report, a fast-growing online sports network with over 25 million monthly readers, is looking for editing interns to join the team immediately.

Interns will work remotely and create their own schedule plans.

To learn more about the Bleacher Report Intern Program, please review the network's list of Frequently Asked Questions:
http://bleacherreport.com/pages/internfaq

To be considered for a position, please submit a Preliminary Application through the network's online form:
http://bleacherreport.com/pages/internapplication

 

[Ace]

Unpaid intern? I gotta think I have a shot.

Is this an entry-level position?

 

[Desk_dude]

Free labor.

 

[Thomas Goldkamp]

Didn't BR just hire Adam Jacobi and Barrett Sallee?

 

[Ace]

If I work really hard as an unpaid part-time editor, could I move up to an unpaid full-time editor?

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Unpaid intern? I gotta think I have a shot.

Is this an entry-level position?

You may have a shot here, but you still don't have a shot at the Plain Dealer.

 

[nate41]

Ugh. I stupidly took one of these in college for a bit. If you wanna wade through trash get a a job at the local dump. At least they pay.

 

[Gold]

Ugh. I stupidly took one of these in college for a bit. If you wanna wade through trash get a a job at the local dump. At least they pay.

...or collect cans, plastic, and glass bottles...

 

[playthrough]

Ugh. I stupidly took one of these in college for a bit. If you wanna wade through trash get a a job at the local dump. At least they pay.

How was the experience (if you can share)?

I'm against unpaid internships but recognize that in some cases they can be better than nothing. But I can't wrap my mind around a remote unpaid internship.

 

[nate41]

It's going on four years since I took it.. sifting back through my emails they were actually pretty good at communicating and getting me set up. Basically, I was expected to put in 12 hours per week in scheduled increments and edit 30-40 articles.

They wanted you to leave feedback- and that was the thing that got me. Such as:

"Great article! I enjoyed your detailed perspective. I've made a few minor changes for format—shortening paragraphs for increased internet readability, spelling out numbers one-nine. Of course keep only what you like. Thanks!"

As a college kid who worked at the school paper, took classes, and held down a part time job, I just couldn't justify keeping it. In retrospect, if I was better organized I probably could have pulled it off it I wanted to.

That was my experience. But again, I haven't done anything for them since then so I couldn't say what its like now.

 

[Gold]

An unpaid writer, while still objectionable to the principle of the word professional, would at least give you a chance to offer an opinion and might (probably not) be useful as far as showing how well you can write.

An unpaid copy editor is far worse, and shows what the people running the site think of their content.

 

[BrianGriffin]

I'll take it if they'll pay. And only if they pay per slide show page. Then I'd get rich.

 

[Stitch]

Any paper that uses Bleacher Report content deserves to go out of business. It's obvious the professional journalists aren't valued at those papers.

 

[cworsh4]

Did this a couple years back. It's really nothing more than a resume filler, and I'd imagine most newspapers would prefer a blank page than one that included B/R.

 

[writingump]

From what I've heard, there's a LOT of editing in this gig as the writing often falls short of being professional.

 

[HookEm2014]

I actually just finished this internship, and I found it very helpful. It really did improve my grammar and editing skills and also gave me a new found respect for copy editors. That being said, it was a lot of work for something where you don't get paid, and with my classes, jobs and organizational obligations, not to mention social life (I'm in college after all haha) it was hard to juggle at 15 hours a week.

A lot of the content on the site was also questionable, often times for a 800 word story, it would take 20-30 minutes to edit, because every other sentence needed a change. But the feedback you receive is excellent, and if you either need to get better at grammar or want a resume filler for online journalism it really isn't a bad gig. Although I do think they should pay -- even just a little bit -- because it was a huge time commitment for what they wanted out of your work.

 

[txsportsscribe]

From what I've heard, there's a LOT of editing in this gig as the writing often falls short of being professional.

i'm not buying it

 

[cjericho]

Any paper that uses Bleacher Report content deserves to go out of business. It's obvious the professional journalists aren't valued at those papers.

Didn't someone from the SF Chronicle have that argument here?
I'm not the most tech-savvy chap but readers must = hits, correct? Is bleacherreport claiming to have 25 million different people reading it each month?