I've been around for a little while. I've worked in the photography industry off and on for close to 20 years. Since digital took over there has been a growing sense in the photography community that "true" professional photography has been eroded away. This erosion caused by the new ease of use of digital equipment.
With digital tech you are able to see your results immediately. The learning curve shortened and people are able to create images, for purchase, that are acceptable to the general public, with very little time in the saddle. With film you had a process that took days and sometimes weeks to produce professional looking images. The expense was 100 times what it is today. Most professional photographers were shooting film until around 2005. It is only in the last 10 years that digital has taken over. It used to be a specialized field that involved the use of chemistry in darkrooms. Figuring out lighting was a long and slow process. No camera back to look at to see results. Polaroids were the only option for immediate feedback and we all know what a polaroid looks like. It took years to master photography. Because of this photographers were able to charge larger sums for images. Photographers weren't a dime a dozen. Imagine how you would feel if you had taken years to master your craft and someone out there, with six months of experience, is your competition. Some will say that if you were an amazing photographer you wouldn't have any trouble keeping clients in this situation, I disagree. The problem is that when someone can get similar results, even if it is lower quality, they will go with the cheaper option. Ask the former employees of Sports Illustrated or the Chicago Sun Times. So when someone starts talking about the "everyone is a photographer" topic I understand where they are coming from. Just look on Instagram or 500px and you will see 1000's of amazing photos from 1000's of amazing photographers. Before the interweb and digital these people would have fallen to obscurity. They never would have been able to express themselves to such a large audience and for that I am grateful. It's a hard pill to swallow, progress is, but one that we will have to swallow if we are going to move on and adapt. You know the saying, adapt or die. Call yourself what you will, I know what I am and I don't need someone else to validate it for it to be true. So pick up that camera and create your art!