Last week, I posted about John Stossel urging younger Americans to aim lower in their job searches and, while he was at it, argued for abolishing the minimum wage.  A day later, Stossel suggested students do away with pay altogether as he talked up the benefits of unpaid internships which, he told us, teach young people more than colleges do – and are free!

The segment, which apparently aired on Fox Business Network on July 13, 2012, was aired as part of a special on Fox News last weekend. FBN called the segment, The War On Interns which pretty much summed up the slant. Anyone with even the slightest familiarity with Fox can guess that the evildoer is the Obama administration which is cracking down on unpaid internships.

While Fox can’t cry enough for doctors’ incomes, apparently many of the rest of us should be glad with whatever we can get, even if that’s nothing. Stossel – who uses interns, himself – said that about half of college students “do some kind of internship” as a way to “build a resume.” He also acknowledged that companies “get some work done cheap.”

But now he sneered that the “Obama Labor Department says (interns) are exploited.” Although Stossel admitted, “I think internships are great,” he conceded that “Lots of people say it’s about time the Labor Departmentt started punishing company that employ unpaid interns.”

Guest Steven Greenhouse, of the New York Times, recently wrote an article exploring how unpaid internships have proliferated in a tough job market for college graduates. Many grads feel they have no better options as they face what Greenhouse called, "the worst job market in decades."

Rather than explore the pluses and minuses from the interns’ point of view – which Greenhouse laid out nicely in his article - Stossel seemed determined to promote interships as great opportunities, regardless of the law. When Greenhouse said he thought it was “a good conservative notion” that  “companies should not break the law,” Stossel exclaimed, “They’re dumb rules!” As if that excused everything.

The other guest, Hannah Jackman, places interns in media organizations. So, unlike Greenhouse, she had a vested interest in the subject. “I can’t say enough (about) the advantages and importance of doing these kind of internships, paid or unpaid,” she said.  She called internships “incredible opportunities” for networking, learning professionalism and figuring out career paths.

Stossel then turned to a videotaped interview with Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, who was shocked to find out it’s against the law to use any of the hordes begging him to be unpaid interns for some “projects” he had in mind. “It’s just absolutely ridiculous,” he told Stossel.

Stossel, of course, agreed. “These are kids who might have invented something cool. They don’t get the opportunity!”

Greenhouse noted that a billionaire like Cuban “might have a few extra cents to pay his interns.” He added, “They could still be as creative and inventive and go on to exercise great things.”

Stossel had no answer other than to say, “These kids want to work for nothing, for the experience!”

Stossel had a studio audience of unpaid interns - some of whom worked at Fox News - who all seemed to think they had a great deal. Or at least that’s what they indicated on camera. There were no individual interviews to determine what they actually did or whether they were exploited or abused in any way.

Instead, Stossel went on to suggest that an unpaid internship was more valuable than going to college. He said a lot of interns tell him, “’I’m learning much more working for you than I learned in college,’ and they don’t have to pay you anything.”

He said it sounds like “a great deal.”