I think when we label writing and journalism (even sad 'party journalism') as useless and not labor intensive, well, that's exactly the kind of product we are eventually going to get.

You always need to pay for quality work. I don't go to a doctor who does it just for the "exposure" or the "experience" of being a physician, and I don't want to read publications staffed by people there for the free food or the guest list.

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Dave,

I agree completely, I think honest work deserves honest pay. My point is about accuracy. Gawker doesn't pay their video interns and they're explicated told not to have editorial aspirations. So Gawker, like GofaG has a staff that is "largely unpaid." as well. Are they both running businesses based upon slave labor? It would be difficult for Gawker to exist without the help of unpaid or underpaid workers.

Gawker pays their writers, but how much, and is it enough to not be considered slave labor?

The devil is all in the details. The details, which when left out can allow you to spin a story in any direction you wish.

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My original post in this thread was meant to be sarcastic. I actually think the video interns do important and difficult work. Having to sort through tons of video to find things worth posting is as valuable as actually curating posts for Gawker, in fact it is almost the same thing. Granted you don't need to have the writing skills to write a narrative around it but it is still valuable work that is, as I understand it, unpaid.

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