There are plenty of for profit podcasters & writers out there that make money and honest living with small paypal subscriptions (before patreon was even a thing), plus small one-time donors and the like.

Some of them have been at it since podcasting since day 1.

They have been saying things that are deemed unacceptable or inappropriate by the powers that be. Yet they are still around with crowdfunded sources.

So I don't buy that you cannot do good reporting and also make a honest living. Its just very very hard, and there is no upside.