So Vice magazine, which last we heard from, was bitching about how no one sends them real letters anymore, is offering a "Blank Issue" for their next Viacom-enacted marketing scheme: where you the reader get to design, write, and layout your own Vice copy! And then you send it back into them, so they can ostensibly use your work for free and call it "winning."

First prize in the contest nets you either $1,000 or an internship at Vice, which, last we checked, weren't all that difficult to get without having to spend half a semester throwing together a raunchy list of vaguely clever Do's and Don'ts.

Perhaps some well-wishing j-school professor told you that in order to get ahead in this business, you need to line up prestigious internships, and that toiling away every summer during your undergrad will open to the door to endless opportunities, or at least one? Well, that may be the case, but that whole mentality is RUINING JOURNALISM!!!

CONTINUED »

Some sort of congratulations is in order for Sean Avery, the professional hockey player so obsessed with clothing he agreed to endure a summer making photocopies for Anna Wintour. (Actually, he asked her.) Somehow, in all the excitement about July's Nicole Kidman cover, we didn't realize that Avery had already wrapped up his internship at Vogue. So now that he's done at the magazine — though he hopes he'll be asked back next year — what does Avery plan on doing? Hitting the beach, "bringing the European flavor back to America, and I'm rocking a straight Speedo all summer." God bless you Vogue.

Sadly, it appears those interning at 20th Century Fox have not learned the lesson of Chrissy Torres, the University of Southern California student who thought airing her complaints about her gig – like her boss giving her a "Meryl-Streep-in-Devil-Wears-Prada long list of things to do one day, 3 hours before I had to leave" – would be a good idea.

Some of her fellow interns aren't so pleased with her actions. Which is why they're doing some blogging of their own … aimed at Torres.

CONTINUED »

… and she's Chrissy Torres, who's likely out of an internship, like, right this second. Not only did she give away the damning details about her identity while blogging about her internship, she also listed the fact that she was interning at Fox and contributing to CollegeOTR.com, where the blog was published, on her Facebook profile. Idiot.

Bad news, kiddos: The USC student who was said to be interning at FNC is actually just interning at one of the bajillion divisions of Fox (okay, it's 20th Century Fox in LA). Not that writing about her experience there is any less stupid.

[Update: Turns out this isn't an intern at FNC, but 20th Century Fox.]

A student at the USC appears to be blogging on the website CollegeOTR.com about what it's like to intern at Fox News. As anybody working in the media, or having interned in the industry, understands, this is an incredibly stupid, stupid idea. Especially since, while you might be blogging "anonymously," it won't take staffers very long to finger which of their interns is female and attends USC. And writes things like this:

This has been the back and forth of working at Fox. Somedays are incredibly busy — my head boss, a fairly well-known producer, gave me a Meryl-Streep-in-Devil-Wears-Prada long list of things to do one day, 3 hours before I had to leave. The list included finding out the name of some upcoming directors at an agency, searching for ad rates on popular websites, and finding the HOME address of a popular celebrity CEO [NOT an actor, and NOT Ben Affleck], so he could "play a trick" on them.

"Oh, well, do you have any contacts for them?" I asked, hopefully. "I mean, can I drop your name to get it? I just don't know how I could get access…"

"No, no, no," he said, annoyed. "That would RUIN the prank. Just you know, google it or something"

…oic.

CONTINUED »

DO NOT BLOG ABOUT STEALING Why did Teen Vogue, the turf of The Hills for a while, ban high school interns? "last year, one of teen vogue's interns crashed the met ball in a dress she had borrowed without permission from the teen vogue fashion closet, and then [blogged] about all the celebrities she met and exactly what they said to her… and then Kimball Hastings lost his shit, obviously." [Jezebel]

Twenty-eight-year-old Sean Avery, the New York Rangers hockey player who knows at least eight different ways to fold a pocket square, began his Vogue internship on Monday, where he'll pick up a cool $5,000 for his work this summer. "Observers say he's involved in all sections of the magazine, including features and accessories, and attends edit meetings." [WWD] Last month, Avery managed to lacerate his spleen during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, though he played through it. Teammates thought he had suffered cardiac arrest when reports surfaced that he wasn't breathing when he arrived at the hospital. So you can tell he's quite the dramatic type, so he should fit in quite nicely.

With a new college semester right around the corner, offices across town are waving goodbye to summer's blessed commodity: interns.

We're saying goodbye to one on Friday (and we're even taking him out to lunch, probably as you read this), as he needs some downtime from flipping through the tabloids before his class on "journalism ethics" kicks off. So to commemorate the passing of the guard – that is, when the duty of schlepping a Badgley Mischka gown to a photoshoot falls upon a fall intern – we turn to Intern Memo, the email newsletter devoted to slave labor free help.

CONTINUED »

Most of your lousy internships ended up with school credit (that you had to pay for) and a business card (that you had to swipe off an editor's desk) that would hopefully be your ticket to a paying job once you finished school — and prayed that editor still worked in publishing by the time you finished school.

But NO MORE!, says GQ. The Conde Nast book is going to send one lucky intern off with much more than degradation and a sloppy sublet. Your 30 day stint at the magazine will also include a 3-page spread in an upcoming issue, a style and grooming makeover with in-house expert Bret Fahlgren, two tickets to a John Legend charity concert, $1,000 in a new wardrobe, and some crappy backpack.

So how do you get your hands on this fine career stepping stone?

You grab your daddy's gold card and get on eBay, that's how.

You've got till April 30 to make your starting bid of $5k. (Don't worry, you can use flexpay! Oh, and it's for charity.)

Mary Kate is an intern at Teen Vogue. In fact, she's a veteran intern, so the dek head says, which must explain why the magazine's website commissioned the "Working Girl" blogger to pen an "A to Z guide to life as a Teen Vogue intern." She came up with: A cute slideshow, with one item per letter. You know, the type of print gimmicks they teach you in j-school.

So A is for American Apparel: "The Teen Vogue fashion closet is stocked with classic American Apparel essentials. T-shirts, leggings, and leotards in as many colors as a Crayola crayon box."

And B is for ballet flats: "In the fashionable Teen Vogue offices the temptation to wear chunky platforms and high-heeled Mary Janes is fierce, but the truth is, running errands around New York City all day is no time for three-inch heels. Interns love ballet flats—specifically those from London Sole!"

And C is for cupcakes: "Especially the jumbo ones from Crumbs Bakery. In the fashion closet, interns order frosted and sprinkled cupcakes for everything from birthdays to intern send-offs, and sometimes simply because we need an afternoon treat!"

And what is D for? It's for dismissed. NO EATING IN THE FASHION CLOSET!

Have you ever wanted to meet the interns at a glossy? We'll let the Nielsen numbers for I'm With Rolling Stone answer that one.

But there goes Glamour, with executive fashion editor-at-large Suze Yalof Schwartz using her blog to get hip with the new era and trot out a pair of unwilling victims.

CONTINUED »

Calling all slave laborers interns!

Did you somehow forget to audition for MTV's I'm From Rolling Stone reality show? Are you dying for an opportunity to publicly humiliate yourself while competing for a highly coveted 1-year throw-away position?

Well, lucky for you, you've got another chance. Unfortunately, however, the stakes aren't quite so glamorous the second time around.

See, this gig is more of a resume-builder than an actually career opportunity. Also, it's not very fun:

Rolling Stone is looking for part-time unpaid interns to start ASAP in their New York offices for a publishing assignment. You must be available a minimum of 2 days and have an impressive design and photo sensibility, as well as an interest and familiarity with Rolling Stone and its history. A majority of your responsibility will be scanning in items for our upcoming retrospective publication celebrating the history of the magazine, but you may also be called on to do editorial research. We are looking for quick learners who take direction well and have an eye for detail and organization.

So to review: This internship is unpaid, a minimum of two days a week, and you'll predominantly be doing tedious scanning work, although occasionally you'll have the privilege of fetching Jann Wenner's coffee.

Oh, and it's not going to air on MTV, and there's absolutely no chance it will ever translate into a real position at Rolling Stone.

Where do we sign up??

In the era (read: week) of Jeffrey Epstein's underage antics, might the New York Times be a bit more wary of celebrating adults who mingle with minors? Especially said adults who run websites with the name "Cobra Snake?"

Interns, the Founts of Youth [Maureen Tkacik, NYT]

Wow, New York Times. We knew you couldn't go through a whole article on interns and blogging without mentioning Gawker, but we never thought you'd be able to discuss getting fired from your job for blogging without namedropping Dooce. A hand well played.

Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply [Anna Bahney, NYT]

We really don't need to say much more than, uh, this: paid internship.

Internship with Meredith Interactive Editorial and Production is PAID! This paid web editorial and production position focuses on optimizing content for the web, both for search engines and for the website user experience.

The right candidate will: Edit and format licensed content for production team with an eye to web usability and search engine optimization; Identify magazine content that should be added to the website; Conceive of new story ideas and content areas to be added to the website in the areas of health and fitness; Improve the user experience of the health and fitness content across 4 websites; Be able to perform light administrative tasks, so strong organizational and communications skills are a requirement; Be able to function in a fast-paced team-oriented environment while still maintaining a positive attitude.

Experience and a strong interest in health and women's service journalism are a plus, along with experience with a web content management system. HTML and other programming languages are not required. This is a great job for a recent college graduate looking to get a start in web publishing. Please email resumes and cover letters to: xxx@xxx.com

Just imagine: Your internship could pay for our TimesSelect membership!

Photo: Interns Sara & Molly

When we asked our readers back in August to voluntarily slave away at an internship for this website, we never actually expected to get a response. But then the emails started trickling in and, well, we were so inundated we considered posting an ad on Craiglist to find an intern to sort through all the intern replies.

Luckily we pieced together enough time when not watching ABC's Hooking Up to find our three very talented interns. And now we'd like you to meet them — if only so you have someone else to blame when we grow tired of Tyra Banks' daily runway show.

Their names are Molly, Wendy and Sara, and they're exposing themselves after the jump.

CONTINUED »

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.

Embroiled publisher American Media Inc. is suffering through enough, what with its its scandal-laden relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger to Bonnie Fuller's compulsive underdelivering.

Now David Pecker & Co. can't even secure enough interns for all its magazines! Staffers might actually have to do the jobs of four employees instead of the company's standard three.

American Media, Inc. (publisher of Star, Celebrity Living, National Enquirer, Shape, Country Weekly, Men's Fitness, Natural Health, Fit Pregnancy, Flex and SLY magazines) is still seeking fall interns in Editorial, PR, Advertising Sales and Photography. The internship must be either for college credit or for your own experience. It is a non-paid internship. If you are interested please email your resume to XXX@XXXX.com or fax 212-XXX-XXXX. Please state what magazine and in which area you are interested in interning.

If it weren't for this damn blogging gig, we'd apply for Sly, hands down. We're all about the glam factor. On the brightside, at least it's not an internship at OK!.

(And before you slaughter us with email hatred, yes, we're very aware we're pimping for interns too.)