A while back we took a look at internships with Gawker Media, a blog network that recently sold off a few blogs. One of the blogs that they sold off is one of my absolute favorites – The Consumerist, a blog about consumers’ rights. The reason that they sold off the blog wasn’t that it was unpopular, it was that it was nearly impossible to make profitable because of the need to not show impropriety through relationships with advertisers. Luckily for Consumerist fans everywhere, a perfect solution came about with the purchase of The Consumerist by Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports. Although Consumers Union isn’t a typical non-profit, they do an amazing job of providing regular people with the information that they need to make informed purchases.
One of the most impressive and telling things about Consumers Union is their No Commercial Use Policy:
We accept no advertising and we are not beholden to any commercial interest. Our income is derived from the sale of Consumer Reports and other publications and information services, and from noncommercial contributions, grants, and fees. Published information from Consumers Union, including our Ratings and Reports, is intended solely for the benefit of our subscribers and other consumers, in order to help them make informed choices and decisions about consumer products, services, and other consumer matters. Such information may not be used by others in advertising or to promote a company’s product or service.
That quote pretty much sums it up about Consumers Union. They’re all about protecting consumers, and they don’t let anything get in the way of their mission. If you’re interested in consumer protection, then there are few better places to intern than Consumers Union. A look at their Jobs page shows that a number of internships that might interest students who are avid readers of Consumer Reports or The Consumerist. They currently have Summer internships posted, and these include General Intern, Editorial Intern, Advocacy Intern, and Engineering Intern. All of these internships are based in Yonkers, NY and come with a $1,500 stipend. Consumers Union also mentions on their internship listings that “CU interns are considered trainees under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1973.” They would (and that’s a good thing). The application deadline for these internships is April 30th, but you probably want to apply as soon as possible if you can. There is also a part-time Advocacy Internship – Financial Services (San Francisco, CA), which is much needed these days, that was posted back in November and has different details than the Summer internships. We’re not sure if it’s still active, but it may be worth a look. In my opinion, these are some of the coolest internship that we’ve featured yet, so check them out.
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
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Tags: advocacy, California, consumer research, editorial, engineering, Internships, New York, paid, research, writing
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