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NY Times Raises Intern Pay To Minimum Wage
By
John Surico
Published Mar 25, 2014
Modified Mar 25, 2014
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By
John Surico
Published Mar 25, 2014
Modified Mar 25, 2014
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A few weeks back, the NY Times's Editorial Board penned a piece commending N.Y.U. and Columbia for their recent moves to block unpaid internships, veiled by the draw of "academic credit." Except the Times itself was still offering unpaid, academic internships to young journalists. That changes today: Academic interns at the Times will now receive $8 an hour for their time, and be given back wages for the unpaid time spent there already this semester.
This new policy will affect a "handful" of interns, Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy told BoroughBuzz. However, if you're a past intern looking to cash in on the decision, unfortunately you won't have the same luck.
Previously, academic interns were promised a $500 stipend a semester for 10 to 13 hours a week of work. This amounted to roughly $3.85 an hour. It also pales in comparison to the summer interns, who make upwards of $960 a week for their time at the Grey Lady, and marketing interns, earning $25 an hour. Asked if the Times will increase their interns' pay with the planned increases in New York State's minimum wage, Murphy tells us, "We will comply with the law."
The "unpaid-intern uprising," as NYMag called it, began formally with a lawsuit on behalf of a bunch of unpaid interns from the set of "Black Swan." The production company, Fox Searchlight, was sued for offering academic credit instead of compensation in the form of cash money. The judge ruled that the policy was not in accordance with federal labor standards, which states that any work for a for-profit company deserves at least the minimum wage. In other words, academic credit doesn't count.
So this is a smart move by the Times, especially considering the path of legal action and class lawsuits then followed by unpaid interns at Gawker, Hearst, and Conde Nast. And it's about time the editorial voice of the famed newspaper rang true throughout the company. We hear you, Margaret Sullivan!
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