As a former Techcrunch intern I can attest that they do pay their interns. He may have been an exception though.

Really? This is what happens when you pay interns with awesome experience, rather than cash?

You're selling that as if it were so hard to get experience and get paid at the same time. I know this won't be popular, but Microsoft pays interns more than most people get paid hourly.

Comparing Microsoft to Techcrunch? Have you looked at how much money each company has in the bank?

and the amount of networking and exposure available to you working as a writing intern at techcrunch is invaluable.

i'm not sure why everyone gets in a twist over free interships -- nobody's forcing you to participate. if everybody thought it was a rip-off, nobody would apply, and employers would be forced to pay the interns.

the fact is that the competition for an internship is so intense, that TC is giving a net benefit to the person who works there, even though they aren't getting paid monetarily.