About Me: a teen saved by "good" media

The teenager freed from mainstream lies at the hand of alternative media

Saltwater Girl, a South African teenage lifestyle
magazine that inspired my career choice in media

A distressed teenager

As a distraught teenager, I use to pull up my feet beneath me on my bed, turn up the volume of my Blink182 CD and slip into the world of Saltwater Girl to feel better. Saltwater Girl magazine created a world in which girls are allowed to be themselves and allowed to change the world. It was one of the only places where I felt at home.

At sixteen, the rest of the world seemed terribly improper; I was pondering the purpose of life and my peers would meditate on what adjustments should be made to their personalities to earn them the social label "popular".

The muddy mainstream

To fit into the mainstream you should change the angle by which your side-fringe is swept over your forehead; eat less; wear more Billabong branded clothing; be friends with people you don't like; act like you don't care, if you do; withhold your beliefs - rather cue majority opinions and you should never associate yourself with the "freaks". 

Being a teenager seemed synonymous with being discontent with oneself. It did not make sense to me living one life only in strive of another. 

I looked to adults for some sort of rectifying maturity, but I was sorely disappointed. The only change I could see was the replacement of side swept fringes with tailored hair and highlights, Billabong with Polo and the term "freaks" with "those people".

My epiphany

As I read through more magazines, other than Saltwater Girl, I experienced an extreme feeling of worthlessness accompanied with a new determination to self-improve, an attitude similar to the mainstream attitude I detested. 

It is only when I picked up on the general theme within media that I understood the root of this issue. By imposing a sense of worthlessness, companies create the need for a product or service to offer a sense of improved worth. 

My dream to free all people 

Surely if people realized their downcast discontentment was caused by trusting commercial lies , told by self centered money-makers, the truth of their true worth would become clear to them? "Media, being such an influential tool, would be the perfect instrument to impose truth upon the minds of others", I thought. One could revolt against bad media with an ambush from the inside.

I set out on a journey across Southern Africa to study the tricks of the trade. I finished my degree in graphic design and communication last year in the North West. Currently I'm pursuing journalism know-how in the central part of South Africa and eventually I wish to return home, to the very southern tip of my country. 

The challenging media industry

I must confess, the media industry - even within my limited scope of experience in freelance work and internships - has proven to be much more challenging than I had expected. There are many temptations to compromise my commitment to producing good media, for the sake of a better salary, corporate success and making a name in a harsh industry.

As soon as I catch myself contemplating on compromising, I quietly remind myself of question that Saltwater Girl once answered for me, "What are you really worth?".