Media and Cultural Industries Internships: A Thematic Review and Digital Labor Parallels

Abstract

This article reviews existing research on the motivations and experiences of interns in media and cultural industries. Digital labour theories are used to organize and make sense of the existing internship literature. Throughout the article, parallels are also drawn between the experiences of interns and those of digital creative labourers—both professionals and peer producers. Three key themes are identified within the internship literature: 1) interns derive satisfaction from work they con- sider meaningful, particularly hands-on work executed under the training and trust of effective supervisors; 2) interns see their work as future-oriented investments in their skills, professional networks, and personal brands; and 3) the ambiguity and professional necessity of media and cultural industries internships make them fertile ground for exploitation and self-exploitation. In conclusion, I argue that attentiveness to meaning, temporality, and ambiguity will be essential to future critical investigations of internships.

Precarious labour in waiting: Internships in the Chinese Internet industries

“…This indicates that interns indeed do not have ‘flexible working hours’: interns do not even have the right to quit their internships. Corrigan (2015: 345) suggests that interns’ experiences of menial work and indifferent/unwilling supervisors are not only a result of coercion, but are also alienating experiences. In the last example cited, Janet’s loss of control over her work also addresses two criteria of exploitation: coercion into underpaid work and alienation from her control of work.…”

“…TripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique , an important journal in the field of critical digital media studies, also published a special issue on internships in 2015. Topics included a clarification of the concept of internships (Corrigan, 2015; Frenette, 2015; Hope and Figiel, 2015), the relationship between the internship system and the development of cultural and creative industries (Boulton, 2015; Ciccarelli, 2015; Mirrlees, 2015), and the relationship between internships and higher education (Chong, 2015; Einstein, 2015; Smeltzer, 2015), as well as labour movements (Cohen and Peuter, 2015; Webb, 2015). Within the same special issue, Rodino-Colocino and Berberick (2015) highlighted the role higher education institutions play in students’ decisions to take internships, colleges and universities encouraging students to do so by offering them credit-based internship programmes.…”

“…The unpaid internship thus erodes the benefits of education for social development. Corrigan (2015) claims that some concepts in digital labour research, such as selfexploitation, could be applied to understand interns' experiences. He applies digital labour theories to internships in creative industries, but retains an appreciation for both the meaningful part of such labour (e.g.…”

Digital “women’s work?”: Job recruitment ads and the feminization of social media employment

“…(p. 6) In recent years, scholars have cast much-needed attention on the myriad forms of invisible labor that propel the media industries, including internships or creative gigs that encourage aspirants to "work for exposure," rather than for material rewards (e.g. Corrigan, 2015;Duffy, 2017;Hesmondhalgh, 2010;Kuehn and Corrigan, 2013;Perlin, 2012).…”

Ubiquitous yet Ambiguous: An Integrative Review of Unpaid Work

“…Studies adopting student‐centred perspectives have found that participants consider these opportunities an essential strategy for gaining a competitive edge in the graduate marketplace (Cannon and Arnold ). Unpaid work is seen as a future‐oriented ‘braggable investment’ that may translate into employment opportunities (Corrigan , p. 341).…”