Black Paper, a content production company co-founded by broadcaster Yoo Byung-jae, sparked controversy after posting an internship job listing over the scope of duties. The question was whether it is appropriate to assign project manager (PM) duties to a six-month intern with no condition for conversion to a full-time position.
According to the entertainment industry on the 4th, Black Paper posted a PM intern job listing on its official website on the 12th. The listing cited as key duties planning YouTube content for creator channels and running the team, establishing brand strategies for affiliated artists, and planning projects and designing business models that leverage content intellectual property (IP). Black Paper recently drew attention when its status—growing to 35 employees and annual sales of 10 billion won within three years of its founding—was revealed on MBC's variety program "The Manager."
Eligibility and preferred qualifications included an understanding of variety show and YouTube content grammar, basic image-editing tools and video-editing skills, experience running social media (SNS) channels, content production experience, and interest in goods, emojis, and character IP.
However, the employment type was a six-month contract intern. The listing also specified that there was no plan for conversion to a full-time position. Online, reactions followed that the scope of duties was broad for an internship listing. Criticism included, "Is it right to hire a PM as an intern?" and "There's no full-time conversion, yet the required duties are at a career-level." Some, however, argued that planning, production, operations, and performance analysis often happen together, making it hard to conclude that the duties listed were excessive based on the posting alone.
As the controversy grew, Black Paper deleted the listing. Black Paper is a content production company jointly founded by Yoo Byung-jae; CEO Yoo Gyu-seon, who worked as his manager; and writer Lee Un-ju, formerly the head writer of tvN's "You Quiz on the Block." The company produced Tving original "Boy and Girl, Dating" and MBC's "Solo Alumni Association: Hakyeon." Yoo Byung-jae, Lee Eun-ji, Jonathan, and Patricia are among those affiliated.