Are you still shooting for FREE?

From a detroit.craigslist.org posting:

"Buzznet.com is looking for a few good music photographers to have them go out do free work for a media pass that they paid nothing for. I never knew that "good photographers" were that stupid...If you can take pictures that are good enough to use, then your client should be good enough to pay you for them. Otherwise you are not a good photographer...you are a thorn in the side of us good photographers. Your work is not free it has value. If you want a backstage pass...then just turn your blog into a media outlet and contact their people and get one!...simple"

Another posting:

"Why do all these venues think that Photographers work for free. Do they know how much it costs to go to school to learn the art and then buy all the equipment needed to professionally shoot the events.

Why do they expect that as a photographer we would just hand over a CD for free.

The photography market is over saturated as it is
PLEASE...PHOTOGRAPHERS do not make it worse by doing ANY work for free. Even if you are a Beginner, Trade for credit or trade for Portfolio just minimizes your talents and labels you as a NON-Professional."

Nicely put, thanks.