to be or not to be a journalist

After almost ten years in this profession, I sometimes wonder, in the wee hours of the morning when I am contemplating yet another headline: "Is this all worth it?" Is living ones passion for the written word worth the criticisms, verbal abuse, sometimes physical abuse and all other attempts to silence that voice?
Never in my whole career have I viewed Journalism as just 'work' it is more than that, and the more Journalists I meet that share the same ideals and values as I, the more I am convinced that indeed this is a passion and my own way of contributing to society, to the betterment of society.
I am currently in Australia on a six week fellowship courtesy of the Australian Government, I was fortunate enought to be an awardee for the Australian Leadership Awards in Economic Affairs Reporting. In the next few weeks, nine of us from PNG, Vanuatu and Indonesia will be given a crash course on Economic Affairs Reporting, with three day attachments to various news media in Australia. This should be interesting.
I find, that I am always a bit more outspoken than my colleagues in the Samoa, so it is always good to mingle with others from the region.
Yesterday we tackled the question of ethics, how far can we go and where do we draw the line in terms of conflict of interest. I admitted, albeit reluctantly, that my participation in the fellowship may compromise my future writing on Australia, I mean, would I really want to bite the hand that feeds me? No :) But perhaps this is modern-day progress, my most respected colleagues have accepted fellowships and famil visits without patting and eyelid in the last few years, so why shouldn't I.
But more then anything I want to learn about this grey area in reporting.
I should probably consider going to bed now.