Education
Campbell studied creative advertising at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, then pursued a Master of Arts degree by research at the University of Melbourne.
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Mel Campbell
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Her research concerned the Australian cultural figure of the bogan, which she argued does not refer to a social class, a subculture or an aesthetic, but rather is a consensually imagined figure that arises in Australian media and public debate when Australian national identity is perceived as fragmentary or under threat. As part of her research, Campbell has written and spoken on the Jaidyn Leskie murder case, Ned Kelly and the phenomenon of "cashed-up bogans". Campbell"s other academic interests include fashion and popular music
In 2009 Campbell tutored in online journalism at Monash University.
Campbell is a freelance journalist who writes about popular culture, advertising and branding, media (particularly online media trends) and everyday life. Publications to which she contributes include The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin, Crikey and New Matilda.
Between 2006 and 2007 Campbell was popular culture editor at Australian alternative women"s magazine YEN. From 2007-2008 Campbell was deputy editor at Triple J"s monthly music magazine, jmag. She continues to write and review for the magazine on a freelance basis.
With Stuart Geddes, Natasha Ludowyk, Penny Modra and Jeremy Wortsman, Campbell co-founded Is Not Magazine in 2005.
An independently published, bimonthly magazine in the form of a 1.5m x 2m bill poster, Is Not ran for eleven issues (and several special issues) before the five co-founders declared it officially defunct in August 2008. "We wanted to make a community around this magazine and reinvigorate public space," Campbell told The Age in 2005. "lieutenant changes the way you approach reading, because there"s no logical place for you to start.
We love the way that it"s physical.
You look up, you bend down, we"ve got spaces … where you can make contributions of your own."
Their first publication is an online magazine of culture and the popular arts called The Enthusiast. Launched in January 2009, The Enthusiast publishes news, features, opinion and review.
Campbell began her personal blog, A Wild Young Under-Whimsy, in March 2004. She also maintains a fashion blog called Footpath Zeitgeist, where she posts research for and discussion about her published work on fashion.
Campbell has contributed to Crikey"s politics blog, The Stump, and is also a contributing editor at feminist blog The Dawn Chorus.
Foreign the 2004 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Campbell created the satirical character, a human resources consultant-turned-hip-hop Military Cross. Her comedy cabaret show "s Booty Pageant was commended in that year"s Fringe Awards, and she performed a revised version at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Reviewer Helen Razer described the show as "a confusing delight", writing: "Performer Mel Campbell has constructed a complex man-eater at ease with language and popular culture.".
