International Law

I am very fortunate in that I love my job at QUT.  I get to teach and research in the areas of law that interest me, and I get to work with many wonderful colleagues.  One thing I like to do as part of my job is contribute to the broader public conversation on certain issues, rather than just limiting myself to the classroom or academic journals.  As such, I occasionally write op-ed pieces for newspapers and websites, and have moderated a few different forums for government. 

I have never asked for or accepted payment for any of these activities for three reasons.  First, I consider this form of public engagement to be part of what QUT pays me to do.  (In part I think this is because I have a rather ostentatious aspiration of becoming a public intellectual.)  Second, I really enjoy these activities and am happy to do them without being paid.  Third, I am nervous that if I started to ask for payment, I would stop being asked to write op-ed pieces and/or moderate public forums.

Anyway, I have discovered recently that most of my colleagues do accept payment of at least a few hundred dollars for writing op-ed pieces, and that I could be paid somewhere between $1000-$1500 for moderating some of these public forums.

So the question is, should I accept payment for writing op-ed pieces and moderating public forums?

I am quite conflicted about this for the three reasons I outlined above.  However, maybe I am being principled for no real reason, especially when that extra money would really be quite helpful in allowing me to attend more conferences, seminars and other events interstate.  So what do you think?