People talk a lot about the current state of the media. I am one of them. Seeing as I work in the field, these days as both an editor and a publisher, it is of great interest to me to watch the changing scope of things and read a bunch of articles with “real journalists” freaking out about how they can’t make as much money in this climate and the impending death of the profession. Magazine publishers are having meetings about how to stay afloat, hiring kids to show them how to use facebook to revolutionize their businesses, and investing in those god awful eReaders that, in the words of the internet, have FAIL written all over them. And you get to hear all about it because, well, the media has a voice.

So here’s my take: Everything is different now, and it’s not going back to the way it was. The real problem with these bloated media outlets: the New York Times, or even in action sports brands such as Transworld, is they are too big. They can’t support themselves on “internet money” because not only do they have a high overhead, but they were likely bought and sold using borrowed money at some point, making them even more expensive to keep rolling. But at the same time, brands such as Vice are doing great.

You know what? That’s ok! People don’t need to get rich from the media to keep it alive. Anyone involved in writing, editing, or other creative arts is doing it because they love it. So just because it doesn’t pay as well as it used to, doesn’t mean that it’s going to go away. And let’s face it: it never really paid that well to begin with. And if the NYT, or TWS are really as important as everyone is making them out to be, they’ll be around for years to come. Maybe as leaner outlets with a different business model, but still available.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying writers and photographers shouldn’t be paid for their work, but I do believe the Internet and the constant need for “content” has made things a lot less black and white. I am a lot less concerned about getting paid for a snapshot I dug out of the archives on request than I used to be. Because the fact is, if I didn’t provide it, someone else would have. And I can see the value of exposure for my brand in having that photo on a new outlet. Something as simple as a link back makes me feel good about that transaction. As long as everyone is happy with the transaction, it’s a good deal.

Of course, it might help me feel this way that I’ve all but abandoned trying to “freelance.” The freelance profession is as good as dead, but never fear, there are options. You could follow my lead and start your own brand. Of course, it’s not easy, and only somewhat lucrative. You could get a staff job. Yes, they still exist, there are just fewer of them. You could shift to more of a marketing/advertising role. Or you could realize that maybe this isn’t for you, and move on. The fact is 95% percent of the people complaining about the state of the media are either corporate CEOs who used to make a ton (and screw them), or people who just aren’t very good at what they do.

Writing, photography — they are as much a business as an art. To be successful you have to be prolific. You have to diversify. You can’t be lazy. And you have to be GOOD. Nothing has changed there. Nothing at all. Now, it’s just a lot easier to blame someone else for your own inability to make money doing it. So keep complaining, things will do the changing on their own.