Would the last intern turn out the lights

The New York Observer visits with interns spending the summer at Sam Zell newspapers and finds they aren't exactly having a great time. The story leads, not surprisingly, with the Los Angeles experience:

Two and a half weeks ago Chris Hine, who this fall will enter his senior year at The University of Notre Dame, was saying his goodbyes to staffers he'd met at the beginning of his summer internship at the sports desk of The Los Angeles Times.

They'd been around at the beginning to help him out with stories, give him pointers, and occasionally have him make a call for a fresh take on a bit of news. And then, with one of the recent rounds of layoffs at the newspaper, they were gone, leaving the intern behind.

The firing of these mostly younger reporters - people practically straight out of college - hit home for Mr. Hine, who is about to take over as editor-in-chief at The Observer, Notre Dame's campus daily.

"It makes me think twice about my decision to not apply to law school," he said with a laugh. "You're in college and the job world seems distant. Then, you see something like this happening, and it wakes you up."

Also this: "At the cubicle cluster of the L.A. Times national desk intern Kate Linthicum, just two people remain where there were once four."