The Feasibility Report
How will magazines continue to attract new, diverse, skilled talent? And in today’s job market, how will young people with the skills and desire find a way to build careers in magazine publishing, across all platforms?
Earlier this year, Magazines Canada started a conversation about how—working together—we can bridge this market gap. The results of that research, carried out with funding from the Ontario Media Development Corporation, are now available.
Read the full report: The Magazine Industry Paid Internship Study
Methodology
Through phone interviews with a range of key stakeholders and an online survey sent to Magazines Canada members, this feasibility study was designed to:
- Understand the sector’s current experience with paid internships and assess the needs, gaps and opportunities among publishers, interns and educational partners.
- Understand requirements and identify benefits of a paid internship program; test response to potential funding and program models.
- Measure the degree of interest of magazine publishers and students/prospective interns in a paid internship program.
- Provide recommendations based on the research findings.
Key Findings
Some key findings from the report include:
- There’s strong publisher interest in an industry-paid intern program. Publishers see paid internships as beneficial to interns, their organizations, and the industry.
- The main barrier to paid internships is cost. When there’s funding support, publishers will invest in paid interns.
- Key issues that an industry paid internship program must address are: a lack of human resources capacity within publisher companies; a job market information gap between magazines and potential interns; and the need for a more diverse talent pool.
Next Steps
The research findings and key issues point to recommendations for further action. In particular, Magazines Canada plans to launch a pilot project based on the study’s findings and recommendations with a test group of business-to-business publishers. This will be a straightforward program model where publishers apply in advance for funding and then undertake their own recruiting and hiring, with the launch of the pilot planned for early 2018, pending funding.
Magazines Canada would like to thank all of the publishers, magazine professionals, associations, post-secondary programs and students and former interns who participated in the study’s interviews and survey.