A former Ball State design student, now sports editor of the Chicago Tribune's RedEye -- a publication for young adults -- will speak to students Tuesday night.
Michael Kellams will give a presentation titled "J-Lo, McPaper and Ben Bradlee: Why Nipple Rings Matter As Much As They Do. And, Then Again, Why They Really Don't. And so Forth" at 7:30 p.m. in Art and Journalism Building Room 175.
In his presentation, Kellams said he will describe his experiences at RedEye, which targets 18- to 34-year-olds, and how he believes newspapers can continue to attract younger readers.
"I don't think 'nipple ring' is printed on paper enough," Kellams said. "Readership and circulation numbers for newspapers are going down, and the readership is getting older. We try to give readers what they'll find interesting."
When Janet Jackson bared her breast during the Super Bowl, Kellams said the Chicago Tribune made three cover stories out of it.
The philosophy of RedEye is that things have to be at least as interesting as they are "important," he said.
Kellams said he didn't even expect the Journalism Department to keep the title he submitted for the presentation, but he was glad the amusing title could remain.
"I like to make people laugh," he said. "I'm not Howard Stern, and I'm not a shock jock, but I just think you've got to have more fun in work, in life, in everything. The title was just me having fun."
Kellams said he especially chose his presentation topic because he believed wholeheartedly in increasing readership among young adults.
"Something's got to be done to improve this readership," Kellams said. "I feel there's not one answer but many different answers for many different newspapers, and RedEye is the way the Tribune is doing this."
Assistant journalism professor Dan Waechter, who coordinated the professional-in-residence presentation, said RedEye is definitely a deviation from the traditional Chicago Tribune project.
Kellams's topic should be appealing to Ball State students, Waechter said.
"A lot of thought went into creating RedEye for a different reader demographic in a way that only serves to reinforce what students learn in the classroom," he said.
Waechter said people always hear about the shrinking demographic of young adult readers, but newspapers like the Chicago Tribune really are taking steps to make it grow. Kellams is one of our most successful alumni, he said.
After graduating from Ball State in 1994, Kellams worked as the lead sports designer for the Detroit News and the news design coordinator for the Seattle Times. He became a founding editor and designer for RedEye in 2002 and has won nearly 40 awards from the Society of News Design.
Department of Journalism Chairwoman Marilyn Weaver, who used to teach Kellams, said he was a very bright student and that she absolutely expected him to be successful.
"I did teach him, but sometimes he taught me," Weaver said. "I hope students see him as a person from our program who became successful in a short period of time and will be inspired by that."
Kellams said Ball State certainly set him on his career path and played an instrumental part of his life.
"My advice to you is to take your work seriously, but don't take yourself seriously," Kellams said. "Remember to have fun, and remember tomorrow is another day, so make (it) the best it can be, realizing you have another chance tomorrow."
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