Sure, as irrational as that may be, you're right that it's a larger problem to fix that's probably out of scope here. But the larger point is that economically

Sure, as irrational as that may be, you're right that it's a larger problem to fix that's probably out of scope here. But the larger point is that economically productive employees in their early career are almost always exploited, so it wouldn't have been hard for Buzzfeed to throw some relatively token amount towards her and have her be over the moon with it. Most college students would love to get $20k for doing something they were procrastinating and doing for free, especially if you package it with an ego-boosting title.