Meanwhile, back to the original point...
I assume that neither of you worked for free or sub-award pay? Everyone has their own path to lead, and it sounds like you both did well without prostituting yourselves.
True, particularly radio journalism.
Between starry-eyed kids who'll work for free and Reality TV relics (who also effectively worked for free during the reality shows, which is why the networks love them) there's not a lot of room left.