Good on the Guardian for joining the fight against unpaid internships by publishing a blog post by student Libby Page last month. Libby bravely told how:
“A big step for me was finding the confidence to value myself enough to warrant a wage. Although we all feel grateful for experiences gained within companies, we shouldn’t underestimate the work we do there, or what we have to offer.”
Quite right too. Of course the Guardian would certainly be paying Libby for her work, wouldn’t they? Surely they could not be so cynical as to run a blog by a student attacking unpaid work and then not pay her? Alas not. Press Gazette reports that Libby was in fact not paid a penny by the Guardian for her piece, as she revealed on Twitter:
@wturvill @PrivateEyeNews Sadly no. Unpaid articles in my spare time whilst I build my portfolio is different to working set hours for free
— Libby Page (@LibbyPageWrites) January 10, 2013