It costs her time, at a minimum, which comes at the opportunity cost of other money-making ventures.
She's strengthening her personal brand and potentially gaining access to new clients for future work. I have absolutely no problem with her asking for donations, but let's not be disingenuous :)
Agreed, but brand doesn't put food on the table!
Ahhhh, yes, the 'giving exposure' argument.
Did you somehow misconstrue my post as an argument that she should not be paid?
Nope. You're arguing nonsense here.
This is the first time I've seen "do it for the exposure" in the wild (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/exposure). And you even called the other person disingenuous (albeit in jest). I'm impressed.
Looks like I missed the part where someone else was making money off her reporting and refusing to pay her, do you happen to have a link?
As I understand it, she was taking unpaid leave from her day-job at Vice Motherboard (despite then producing full-length articles for Motherboard on the topic).