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Two interns who worked for the Conde Nast titles W and The New Yorker filed a lawsuit yesterday for minimum wage and have asked for class action approval on the case. The interns say they were paid less than $1 per hour but had very real responsibilities and worked long hours.

The US Labor Department says an internship can be unpaid “if they are part of an educational training program and do not replace employees and if the company does not gain immediate advantage from an intern’s work. The work experience also must benefit the intern,” The New York Times says. One of the interns in the Conde Nast case says she was trained by another intern, and one of the workers on the magazine commented on “the poor working conditions.”

This is just the latest in a spate of intern cases.

Federal interns suing Fox Searchlight won a summary judgment in court this week and their suit has been certified a class action against the internship programs at Fox Entertainment Group. The lawsuit was first filed in late 2011 by two interns — Alex Footman and Eric Glatt — who both worked on Fox Searchlight’s film Black Swan and claimed that the company’s unpaid internship program violated minimum wage and overtime laws. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit grew with amended claims brought by additional named plaintiffs such as Kanene Gratts, who worked on Searchlight’s 500 Days of Summer and Eden Antalik, who participated in the FEG internship program.

Fox, however, claims that the production companies not Searchlight were responsible for hiring and managing the interns.

The judge added, “Considering the totality of the circumstances, Glatt and Footman were classified improperly as unpaid interns and are ‘employees’ covered by the FLSA and NYLL. They worked as paid employees work, providing an immediate advantage to their employer and performed low-level tasks not requiring specialized training.”

Fox issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “We are very disappointed with the court’s rulings.  We believe they are erroneous, and will seek to have them reversed by the 2nd Circuit as quickly as possible.”

The Fox interns have fared better in their battle than other inters who recently sued Hearst Publishing. There, a judge claimed the interns could filed separate suits but now a class action, as they had.

via @WhiteHouse

You’re doing it. At work when you need a break. On your smartphone when you’re waiting for bus. In the evening, on your tablet, while you’re waiting for the commercials to end and The Walking Dead to get back to the zombie apocalypse. You’re watching YouTube videos.

And now, YouTube has announced that it officially has one billion unique users every single month. Congrats to them! YouTube puts it in perspective for us: “Our monthly viewership is the equivalent of roughly ten Super Bowl audiences.”

And: “If YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after China and India.”

YouTube isn’t the only social network celebrating. Twitter is seven years old today. Can you even remember a time before tweets? Crazy. So congrats to Twitter too! Video commemoration below.

Even as these networks become more and more ingrained in our daily existences, there are new things right around the bend. And what’s old is new again! Vevo, the music video channel on YouTube, has announced that it will be starting a 24-hour music network online that will be going to television later this year. I want my Vevo TV! (For those who can remember the old MTV commercials.) According to Bloomberg, it’s all about the money, as the company tries to raise some and then make some.

And more companies are getting into the video game, with Conde Nast launching a video network based on its mags, Glamour and GQ.

Then you have digital giant Facebook trying to ramp up its digital game, possibly with hashtags.

So even as we stop to recognize these milestones, the tech world keeps moving along at a rapid clip.

Wintour headed to the Mulberry fashion show during this year’s London Fashion Week. Yui Mok/PA Wire URN:15828615 (Press Association via AP Images)

Now that Anna Wintour is the artistic director for all of Conde Nast, the company and much of the publishing world is hanging on her every word. Unfortunately, one of the industry’s most powerful people is offering very few.

At a Conde Nast gathering on Friday in which staffers had hoped to learn more about what exactly Wintour’s new title actually means, she said nothing about it. Instead, WWD reports, her remarks were “boilerplate.” They also call her “supreme pontiff.” What could that mean?

“She told editors she’d help them with their jobs, even if they had not particularly raised their hands for the assist,” the magazine writes. Technically, editors still report to CEO Charles H. Townsend.

Staffers at the meeting remarked on being clueless about Wintour’s new role. But one thing is clear: “She’ll do what she always does, which is what she wants to do,” one person said. Like a boss.

Anna Wintour at the Burberry fashion show last month. Press Association via AP Images

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of fashion bible Vogue magazine, was just given a big promotion — named the artistic director for all of Conde Nast, the publishing company behind that and many other notable magazines. According to The New York Times, the position was created for her as a way to keep her at the company and to fulfill the duties that are slowly being relinquished by the company’s 85-year-old head, S.I. Newhouse Jr. She told the Times that she views the new position as “almost like being a one-person consulting firm,” giving her the ability to work with other editors outside of Vogue and Teen Vogue.

In his role, the paper says, Si Newhouse would look over the covers of some of the company’s magazines, including Vanity Fair and Glamour. And Wintour says the role is one that will be much like one she fills now, talking with people in the broader industry about their ideas. If you’ve seen The September Issue, you’ve probably marveled at the level of influence that she has on top designers and retailers. The specifics of the new position haven’t been mapped out, but the position does make her “one of the most powerful women in publishing.”

So congratulations Anna! Except, people are already buzzing with “concern.”

“We have a lot of autonomy as editors … No one wants to see that go away. People need a little more clarity,” an unnamed source tells WWD. (via NYMag.com) Another says that the competition between the magazines could get in the way.

The way it’s framed in the Times article, having someone look over their work should be something that the editors at Conde are used to. So a part of me wonders if Wintour’s reputation is getting ahead of her. People are already “worried,” but she’s not even a day into the position? And given her success with Vogue magazine and the problems in the media industry, wouldn’t you welcome the chance for a little counsel from a woman who’s at the top of her game? Who’s hanging out with the President and First Lady and a leader of one of the biggest nights in New York society, the Met Museum’s Costume Institute Gala?

A part of me feels like this is a reaction to a powerful woman being given a little more power. What do you think?

Source: WENN

Conde Nast gets two points for diversity. Just a couple of week’s ago, we learned that the publishing company had named its first black Editor-in-Chief in the form of Keija Minor who is taking over the reigns at Bride. Now the publisher has named Elaine Welteroth Teen Vogue’s new Beauty & Health Director. Can we say yay black girls?!

Fashionista.com pointed out what a big deal it is to have African American women visibly moving up the masthead at Conde, which is hopefully indicative of a trend that will take hold across the publishing industry at large. And the site spoke with Elaine to get her take on just how major her new appointment is.

“The Brides announcement has been really inspiring for a lot of people, including me,” she said. “I’m so thrilled for Keija! I think the goal should always be to find the right person for the job, and skin color should never be a barrier to that. We live in a multi-cultural world, so embracing diversity is important in every industry. As it related to publishing, I think magazines really benefit from having a staff with a range of different perspectives and cultural references so that any reader can feel like there is someone on the masthead they can relate to, someone they can trust to speak up for them. It’s great to see that idea being embraced more and more.”

Elaine also had a very insightful response on why she chose to take such a high-profile position.

“It’s all about preparation meeting the opportunity at the right time,” she told Fashionista. “I couldn’t step into this role with the confidence I have if I hadn’t been the intern slugging away or the editor who had to pull a ton of late nights. My mentor always said: “work like you’re making millions, even if you’re making pennies.” It’s worth it when you love it. And I had the chance to learn from some really talented people who have taught me a lot. So, this next step is sort of the culmination of a lot of work, great mentorship, and perfect timing. It’s an incredible opportunity, so saying yes was a no-brainer.”

According to The Huffington Post, Elaine will officially take on her new title October 15, after finishing up in her current position as Senior Beauty Editor at Glamour. Before that she was the Beauty and Style editor at EBONY. We’re super excited to see what Elaine has up her sleeve and even more stoked to see this black girl rocking on a large level. Congrats!

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Keija Minor (left) with Keli Goaff at a 2011 fundraiser for Fashion Delivers. Image: Eugene Mim/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa Press via AP Images

Keija Minor has been named the first black editor-in-chief ever at Conde Nast, home to magazines including Vogue, Glamour and The New Yorker. Minor will be the EIC of Brides magazine, replacing Anne Fulenwider who’s heading to Marie Claire. Minor was previously executive editor of the magazine.

HuffPo Black Voices has an interesting article, looking at the (few) other mainstream magazines that have had black editors atop the masthead. Among them, Ebony‘s EIC Amy DuBois Barnett who was the managing editor of Teen People and Corynne Corbett, the beauty editor of Essence who was previously executive editor of Real Simple.

Hello Beautiful has some of the reaction on Twitter to this historic news. Conde Nast is a 103-year-old company. Crazy that we’re still making this sort of history in 2012.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Image: AP

-A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that merely 13 percent of the small businesses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that applied for bank loans in April and May got the full amount they requested. Another 36 percent got a partial amount. More than half of applicants asked for a “microloan,” a loan of less than $100,000. “But lenders were more likely to turn down microloan applications than larger loan applications, likely because they were skittish about lending to newer firms and more likely to turn down startups,” reports The Huffington Post.

-A Pennsylvania judge upheld that state’s voter ID law. Liberal groups are already planning their appeals on the grounds that the laws will unfairly impact minority and poor voters. Judge Robert Simpson, a Republican, said the law is “a reasonable, nondiscriminatory, nonsevere burden when viewed in the broader context of the widespread use of photo ID in daily life.”

-Interactive Product Group, a division of fashion mag publisher Condé Nast, has created a new video game meant to appeal to the ladies. ”Fashion Hazard” places fashion models on the runway with the goal of avoiding obstacles that could ruin the show, like a flying cup of latte. The game will be available for iPhones and iPads starting today for 99 cents. Women and girls make up about half of the gamers today. In 2011, about $16.6 billion worth of games were sold in the U.S.

-Research conducted by Policy Studies, a liberal think tank, found that 26 large U.S. companies paid their CEOs $20.4 million on average, but paid little to no taxes on their profits. The average net income of those companies was more than $1 billion in the U.S. For example, James McNerney Jr., CEO of Boeing, made $18.4 million last year and the company got a $605 million tax refund. How do we get in on that deal?

-Big news lighting up Twitter this morning is the decision by the government of Ecuador to grant Wikileaks founder Julian Assange political asylum. Not sure what it’s all about? Here’s a good summary.

Cameroonian photographer Mario Epanya went all out in his campaign to make Vogue Africa a reality. In order to get publisher Conde Nast to see the potential in the magazine–that would pay homage to African women–he created fictional covers, featuring gorgeous images, but it looks like it wasn’t enough.

Read the rest of this entry »

(NYTimes.com) — The publishing giant Condé Nast has been talking to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey about moving to 1 World Trade Center when it is completed, a potential coup for the signature skyscraper rising at ground zero. According to real estate executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were secret, the publisher would take up as much as one million square feet in what is planned to be the country’s tallest office tower, a symbolic 1,776 feet.

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