If I rounded up 100 TV reporters together, I would guess about 99 of them (who have been in the business for 2+ years, once they really get a feel for the business) would tell you they love their jobs. I mean, you have to if you stay in this business, right? We work long hours, some bizarre shifts, for low pay, with some viewers who seem to get joy out of making comments about the way you look, your clothes, your voice, and the way you do your job. And God forbid you not cover a story the way they want. Then you are biased. Mind you, that's not a regular thing. I'd say the vast majority of people I have interacted with have been kind and understand we are typically running the show ourselves-no crew, no team of hair and makeup people. It's often just us, waking up early trying to look camera-ready, making calls and Tweeting and Facebooking and trying to write/edit/produce our stories by deadline while trying to look out for breaking news, and getting ready for coverage the next day. We see some really difficult things to process-we are not "vultures" that we sometimes get the reputation as. I would say for local news, it is not as glamorous as some seem to think. 

So why DO we do this? Why do we spend so much money to go through journalism school and get a job that has these kinds of responsibilities, just to kind some very negative responses? Because we feel a genuine passion for what we do. We enjoy going out into the community and exploring the area. We have fun getting to hear your stories and find a creative and meaningful way to share that. We like telling you about the latest developments in the community. We want to give people a voice who may not have one at times. We are inspired when we see people beating the odds, talking bout the miracle they tell us they've experienced, they give us hope when we cover some very sad stories, or we get really overwhelmed in our jobs. No two days are the same, and that can be a really good thing. We learn from the different viewpoints we see, we expand our horizons by reporting about yours. 

When you watch the news, the people you watch are most likely people that are trying to cover their community the best they can because they truly care. 

Disclosure: 
I know there are plenty of professional people that are dedicated, working extremely long hours, who face plenty of hardships,etc. in different jobs. I respect that, and I am not doubting that they work hard and contribute a lot to the community. I am speaking solely from my experience as a TV reporter about what the job is like.