Brooks Boliek covers Washington for The Hollywood Reporter and writes today that he's ashamed (sort of) to admit he is a journalist.

One doesn't go into journalism for the bucks, the glamour, or to live a life of ease. We're often accused of being a bunch of wild-eyed radicals, and in some ways we are. You have to be if you take on a career where you're guaranteed to piss people off, make too little money and are constantly looking over your shoulder...

I don't do this job for the pleasure of getting under the skin of the suits who run the media conglomerates and the lawmakers who reside in their well-lined pockets. While that's one of the benefits, I do this job because I'm deluded enough to think that I actually can make the world a better place, even if it's just the little sliver of folks who buy The Hollywood Reporter.

Lately, I've begun to question myself: When CBS News tarnishes its reputation by failing to check out that now-infamous National Guard memo; when the New York Times gets taken in by a liar like Jayson Blair; when the Fox News Channel can seemingly turn the idea of being "fair and balanced" on its head, then I wonder what I'm doing by playing by the rules as I toil for a small publication like The Hollywood Reporter.

It's not like I never get anything wrong (Election Night 2000 comes to mind), or that I wouldn't get duped by a forged memo. I'm The Reporter's one-stop shop here in Washington -- a journalist, research assistant, office manager and computer technician all rolled into one -- so it's much easier to fool me than a big-time network anchor.

Still, I try to hold myself to the standard I think CBS or the New York Times is supposed to exemplify. Whenever they get a black eye, the bruise works its way down the food chain.