Dirty and sometimes dangerous job indeed!

There’s also the public service side too, even if the journalist is independently wealthy (set for life).

Like how the US sends the FBI to white supremacist meetups so we can gather intel, journalists gather intel so we know what poobrains are spreading around - then we can defend ourselves, be prepared for those who fall for the disinfo, etc. You’re not proud for attending the meetup or logging into the website, but you know you’re doing good by tipping off good people about bad things. Good citizens can do that stuff w/o financial incentives.

I salute ‘em!