Tina Brown's The Daily Beast, which has been making headlines since it launched last month, threw a launch part of sorts at Pop Burger in the meat-packing district last night. Everyone's favorite late-night eatery was a far cry from the extravagant Liberty Island party that heralded the launch of Talk, Brown's last media (ad)venture. But these are tough times! And believe us when we say no one in the packed crowd of the usual media suspects (and Christopher Buckley) was complaining about the open bar or the platters of mini burgers that circulated the room.

While Brown was greeted with a certain amount of skepticism when she initially announced her plans to launch, with the help of Barry Diller, what would become the Beast, the site has managed to establish itself incredibly quickly, helped along no doubt by the sudden influx of good (unemployed) writers on the market.

We caught up with Brown for a few moments and she told us that "anytime you provide an interesting space for writers they will come." Though she admitted the site was certainly benefiting from the amount of writers currently looking for work. We asked her if she thought The Daily Beast, with it's mix of paid and unpaid content (we're told the Buzz Board is unpaid). Brown told us that as a writer herself "I would never ask a writer to work for free." Music to everyone's ears no doubt! And, one wonders, if the Beast continues to see its profile rise, as the economy plummets, whether Arianna won't have to be considering a similar position down the line. Some pics after the jump.