Perhaps American Media Inc. is having such a hard time finding interns because they'll all decamped to CBS, where their opinions are actually being considered.

Okay, let's call it "being entertained."

A summer-long initiative that asked the network's nearly 100 college-aged interns on how to attract younger viewers to its news program culminated in a meeting with top execs. As the New York Observer tells it, interns were free to submit ideas ranging from anchor switches to set design so long as they didn't suggest moving the 6:30pm time slot of the evening news.

Among the suggestions: Replace Bob Schieffer with a younger anchor, more international news coverage, upping the time slot to a full hour, canceling the anchor-to-correspondent "debriefings" and adding weather and sports segments.

Nearly all of which were shot down by top brass.

The only warmly-received tips included a suggestion for MTV-style reporting and more coverage of minorities.

So how'd the NYO grab the story? By loud-mouthed interns, of course.

Several interns spoke with The Observer about their experiences, asking that their names not be used. (Shortly after an Observer reporter contacted a CBS coordinator last week, interns received an e-mail instructing them not to speak with members of the press.)

It's the responsibility of all unpaid help to speak eloquently to the gossips, and it's a pleasure knowing Viacom's minions are fulfilling their journalistic responsibility. Least of all because, as it turns out, CBS actually didn't give a shit.

“The purpose was so they could see how the business works,” Ms. Mason said last week, adding that the project was “for them. This was for them to learn. It was not for us. Frankly, we weren’t looking for ideas for the evening news. We have a whole group of people working on that right now.”

And they're doing a great job, too! One minute while we reference your Nielsen scores.