Bill Chappell

Bill Chappell is a blogger and producer who works with NPR's Morning Edition and Digital Media group. In addition to coordinating Web features, he frequently contributes to NPR's blogs, from The Two Way and All Tech Considered to The Salt.

Chappell's work at NPR has ranged from being the site's first full-time homepage editor to leading the London 2012 Olympics blog, The Torch. His assignments have included being the lead web producer for NPR's trip to Asia's Grand Trunk Road, as well as establishing the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps on NPR.org.

In 2009, Chappell was a key editorial member of the small team that redesigned NPR's web site. One year later, the site won its first Peabody Award, along with the National Press Foundation's Excellence in Online Journalism award.

At NPR, Chappell trains both digital and radio staff to use digital tools to tell compelling stories, in addition to "evangelizing" — promoting more collaboration between departments. Other shows he has worked with include All Things Considered, Fresh Air, and Talk of the Nation.

Prior to joining NPR in late 2003, Chappell worked on the Assignment Desk at CNN International, handling coverage in areas from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, and coordinating CNN's pool coverage out of Qatar.

Chappell's work for CNN also included producing Web stories and editing digital video for SI.com, as well as editing and producing stories for CNN.com's features division. He also worked at the network's video and research library.

Before joining CNN, Chappell wrote about movies, restaurants and music for alternative weeklies, in addition to his first job: editing the police blotter.

From 2002-2003, Chappell served as editor-in-chief of The Trans-Atlantic Journal, a business and lifestyle monthly geared for expatriate Europeans working and living in the United States.

A holder of bachelor's degrees in English and History from the University of Georgia, he attended graduate school for English Literature at the University of South Carolina.

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9:57am

Thu August 2, 2012
2012 olympics

Wiggin' Out: Bradley Wiggins Drinks To His Gold Medal, And The Mods Applaud

Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 3:54 pm

Credit Alex Livesey / Getty Images

Fresh off becoming Britain's most-decorated Olympian, cyclist Bradley Wiggins is back in the news, as he updated his Twitter followers Wednesday night with details of how his celebration was going.

"Well what a day, blind drunk at the minute and overwhelmed with all the messages," Wiggins tweeted to his more than 400,000 followers. "Thank You everyone it's been emotional X."

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6:27am

Thu August 2, 2012
2012 Olympics

Let's catch up: U.S. women rowers prevail, and NBC's water polo coverage

Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 6:02 am

Credit Eric Feferberg / AFP/Getty Images

Good morning. Here's a rundown of the news that's catching our eye this morning, from the London Olympics:

-- The women's eight rowing competition was won by the U.S. team, in an encore of their gold-medal performance in Beijing 2008. The team, which led from the start and stayed ahead of silver medalists Canada at the end, consists of Mary Whipple (coxswain), Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Eleanor Logan, Meghan Musnicki, Taylor Ritzel, Esther Lofgren, Susan Francia and Erin Cafaro.

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4:29pm

Wed August 1, 2012
2012 olympics

U.S. Marine Boxer: 'I'm Proud Of How Far I've Come,' Despite Olympics Loss

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 1:39 pm

Credit Jack Guez / AFP/Getty Images

U.S. Olympic boxing team captain Jamel Herring lost his light welterweight bout yesterday, but it's not the first setback he's faced — and he says he won't let his team lose its momentum in the London Olympics because of his defeat.

As the AP reports:

"After surviving two tours in Iraq and returning to boxing after the sudden death of his infant daughter in her crib three years ago, Herring knows a bit about composure and focus."

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12:57pm

Wed August 1, 2012
2012 olympics

U.S. Flag-Bearer Zagunis Fails To Medal In Sabre

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 12:32 pm

Credit Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images

Decorated fencer Mariel Zagunis, who carried the U.S. flag into Olympic Stadium as part of the London 2012 opening ceremony, lost in the bronze medal match in the sabre Wednesday afternoon, falling to Olga Kharlan of Ukraine, 15-10.

The loss means that Zagunis, 27, will leave London without a medal — there is no team sabre medal at this year's Olympics (we'll post more about that situation soon).

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12:52pm

Wed August 1, 2012
2012 olympics

Bremerton's Nathan Adrian takes gold in 100m freestyle

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 1:05 pm

Credit Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images

American swimmer Nathan Adrian's name hasn't been on everyone's mind, the way that Michael Phelps' or Ryan Lochte's has. But he did something that even Lochte couldn't do this week: beat Yannick Agnel in a head-to-head race.

Adrian's time of 47.52 seconds in the men's 100-meter freestyle gave him his first individual gold medal, as he also beat James Magnussen of Australia, who came in second, and Brent Hayden of Canada.

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11:51am

Wed August 1, 2012
2012 Olympics

U.S. Gymnast Danell Leyva Wins Bronze In All-Around

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 12:07 pm

Credit Harry How / Getty Images

U.S. gymnast Danell Leyva has won the bronze medal in the men's all-around competition in London. The gold was taken by Japanese star Kohei Uchimura, while the silver medal went to Marcel Nguyen of Germany.

With a final score of 92.690, Uchimura was nearly 2 points ahead of Leyva, at 90.698. And with his win, Uchimura vanquished the disappointments of his 2008 Beijing, when his struggles on the pommel horse cost him a gold medal.

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7:24am

Wed August 1, 2012
2012 Olympics

Kristin Armstrong wins second straight gold medal in Olympic time trial

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 11:41 am

Credit Alex Livesey / Getty Images

Kristin Armstrong has successfully defended her gold medal in the Olympic time trial, winning the race held in Surrey, England. Armstrong finished the 18-mile course in 37:34.82, nearly 16 seconds ahead of Judith Arndt of Germany, who won the silver.

Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia won bronze, seven seconds behind Arndt. American Amber Neben came in sixth, at 38:45.17. Britain's Elizabeth Armitstead, the silver medal winner in the road race, was tenth.

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11:46am

Tue July 31, 2012
2012 Olympics

U.S. women's gymnastics team wins gold medal; First in 16 years

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 3:35 pm

The U.S. women's gymnastics team has won the team gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, handily beating Russia, which took silver, and Romania, which took bronze. China finished fourth.

Update at 2:25 p.m. EDT: The U.S. women led off with their strength — the vault. The apparatus gives them an advantage, and not only because Maroney is the world champion and gold-medal favorite in the event.

The AP describes why:

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11:43am

Tue July 31, 2012
2012 Olympics

London 2012 Lives Up To 'Social Games' Title, In Unwelcome Ways

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 10:25 am

Credit NPR

The London 2012 Games have been touted as the first Olympics to live fully in the age of social media. After all, the organization's Twitter feed has nearly 1.4 million followers, as it lists on its special portal for Facebook and other social sites. But a rash of scandals and news related to Twitter has put a new mark on the face of these games. And, as they say, it ain't pretty.

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7:52am

Tue July 31, 2012
2012 Olympics

Coming Up: Tuesday's Olympic Events To Watch

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 7:38 am

Okay, let's start by admitting one thing: all Olympic events are pretty much worth watching. But there are just too many of them — 17 today, alone. For instance, there's the women's synchronized 10m platform dive, happening now. Here's a list of big competitions we'll keep an eye on today. All times are EDT:

Swimming

  • 2:41 p.m. women's 200m freestyle final
  • 2:49 p.m. men's 200m butterfly final
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7:51am

Tue July 31, 2012
2012 Olympics

Let's catch up: Olympics set record ratings; Venus rolls to third round

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 7:13 am

Credit Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

Good morning. Today will be another big one in London — we'll have a preview of the action in a jiffy. For now, here are some stories that caught our eye:

- The London Olympics are a ratings hit, as NBC's coverage has broken records. "Through the weekend NBC averaged 35.8 million viewers in London, five million more than Beijing, and over a million more than the previous record-holder, Atlanta," says the TVNewser blog.

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1:25pm

Mon July 30, 2012
2012 olympics

Franklin Wins Gold, While Lochte Misses Out; Grevers Wins Backstroke [Results]

Originally published on Mon July 30, 2012 2:22 pm

Yannick Agnel of France has won the 200m men's freestyle at the London 2012 Olympics, beating a field that included American Ryan Lochte and German world record holder Paul Biedermann. Sun Yang of China and and Tae-Hwan Park of South Korea finished with identical times of 1:44.93 — which means that both of them will receive silver medals.

We'll be updating this post with more results from today's action.

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11:07am

Mon July 30, 2012
2012 olympics

U.S. Men's Gymnastics Takes A Fall During Finals

Originally published on Mon July 30, 2012 11:52 am

Credit Thomas Coex / AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. men's gymnastics team had an excellent day of qualifying this weekend, putting it in first place entering today's team finals. But the Americans struggled in the final, which does not carry points over from the earlier rounds.

Update at 2:12 p.m. EDT: The U.S. team has taken fifth place in the competition, despite early struggles that put them in last place. Great Britain surged to win the silver medal behind China — but Japan is reportedly now disputing the score one of its gymnasts received on the pommel horse.

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9:31am

Mon July 30, 2012
2012 olympics

Olympic Cauldron Is Put Out, Then Relit, In London

Originally published on Mon July 30, 2012 9:06 am

Credit Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Just when the discussion over the London Olympics' opening ceremony was finally being overshadowed by actual sporting events at the Summer Games, news emerges Monday that the Olympic cauldron was extinguished Sunday night, so it could be moved.

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8:00am

Mon July 30, 2012
2012 olympics

Catching up: Phelps in fly, too many Tweets, and a chatty Olympics greeter

Originally published on Mon July 30, 2012 7:27 am

Credit John MacDougall / AFP/Getty Images

Good morning. Here's a roundup of London 2012 Olympics news stories that have caught our interest. We also have a highlight list of today's upcoming events, in a different post. You can also check out our main schedule. Here's what's been happening already today:

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