I can appreciate that people are trying to get ventures off the ground. I've heard of a few sites that are offering shares straight up; they don't pay for your articles, but they give you a share in the site for each article you produce. The hope is that it will build up a reader base and they'll be able to flog it. I think that model is fine, because whilst people aren't being paid, they're not writing for free. It also avoids the HuffPo BS.