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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2:28pm

Sat July 28, 2012
2012 Olympics

Sunday, Day 3 Of The London 2012 Games: What's On Tap

Originally published on Sat July 28, 2012 2:24 pm

Credit Jack Guez / AFP/Getty Images

The first full day of Olympic competition brought moments of tense excitement, in the pool and on the archery course, among other places. At the time of this post, China leads the overall medal count, with 6, followed by Italy and the United States, with 5. Four of China's medals are gold.

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12:03pm

Sat July 28, 2012
2012 Olympics

Lochte Cruises To Win Gold, Beating Phelps In The IM

Originally published on Sat July 28, 2012 4:05 pm

Ryan Lochte won the gold medal in the men's 400-meter individual medley Saturday, beating Michael Phelps and the rest of a talented field at the London 2012 Olympics.

Lochte finished with a time of 4:05.18, beating Brazil's Thiago Pereira (4:08.86) and Japan's Kosuke Hagino (4:08.94). Phelps was fourth, at 4:09.28. Lochte sprang to an early lead in the butterfly, and solidified it with his backstroke.

The victory wasn't a surprise to Lochte, who said that he knew he was in good shape coming into the London Games. Still, the win seemed to take a while to sink in.

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11:00am

Sat July 28, 2012
2012 Olympics

Team USA wins first medal; More results from Saturday

Originally published on Sat July 28, 2012 1:58 pm

On the first day of full competition in the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Team USA won its first medal of the games, as the men's archery team took silver in a tense final against Italy. The Americans reached the final after stunning the highly regarded South Korean team in a comeback win earlier in the day.

Italy won on its last arrow, when a score of eight would have meant a loss and a ten a gold. The arrow hit the line between the 9 and 10 — and in archery, that meant 10 points, and the gold medal.

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9:07am

Sat July 28, 2012
2012 olympics

Cyclist Vinokourov Wins Gold Medal In Men's Road Race

Originally published on Sat July 28, 2012 8:48 am

Credit Miguel Medina / AFP/Getty Images

Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won the gold medal in the men's cycling road race Saturday, edging Rigoberto Uran of Colombia in a late sprint in London. The 150-mile race ended in front of Buckingham Palace.

The Olympic medal completes a vindication for Vinokourov, 38, who has previously been suspended for doping, back in 2007. He retired last year, after breaking his leg at the Tour de France. But he returned to the French classic this summer.

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9:06am

Sat July 28, 2012
2012 olympics

London's opening ceremony gets rave reviews; NBC, not so much

Originally published on Sat July 28, 2012 7:15 am

Credit Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

The London Olympics are in full swing, after an opening ceremony Friday that was chock-full of historic and cultural imagery drawn from Britain's past. Critics are gushing over Queen Elizabeth's role in the spectacle — along with James Bond. But there is room for debate — especially among viewers here in the U.S.

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9:05am

Sat July 28, 2012
2012 Olympics

Let's Catch Up: American Vollmer sets Olympic record; first medals won

Originally published on Sat July 28, 2012 9:41 am

Good morning. Here's a rundown of what's been happening in and around London, on the morning after the Summer Olympics' opening ceremony:

- U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer set new Olympic and U.S. records in her 100m butterfly qualifying heat this morning. Vollmer, of Granbury, Texas, had a time of 56.25 seconds. She says she can go faster.

- The first medals have now been awarded in the London 2012 Olympics, with China's Yi Siling winning gold in the 10-meter air rifle shooting competition. Poland took silver, and China took bronze, as well.

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1:54pm

Fri July 27, 2012
2012 Olympics

Legally Blind Archer Sets World Record At London 2012 Games

Originally published on Fri July 27, 2012 12:02 pm

Credit Paul Gilham / Getty Images

As we've reported, there were no public events on the Olympic sporting schedule today, the day of the opening ceremony. But we must note that two world records were set at the London 2012 Games this morning. That's when South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun scored a record 699 points.

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9:41am

Fri July 27, 2012
2012 Olympics

London Olympics: Watching the opening ceremony, and this weekend's events

Originally published on Fri July 27, 2012 10:46 am

The London 2012 Summer Games are set to begin in earnest, with today's opening ceremony kicking off a weekend of gold-medal competitions. But if you're in America and you hope to watch the Opening Ceremony live, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed: NBC is tape-delaying its broadcast until Friday night.

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8:18am

Fri July 27, 2012
2012 Olympics

U.S. Gymnast Maroney Says She'll 'Make The Best' Of Competing On Broken Toe

Originally published on Thu July 26, 2012 2:42 pm

Credit John Cheng / USA Gymnastics

U.S.gymnast McKayla Maroney will compete in the London Summer Games, despite the lingering effects of a broken toe. Maroney, a gold medal contender, is the reigning world champion in the vault. Early reports suggested that Maroney broke her toe in London. But it appears that she merely tweaked an earlier injury.

On Twitter, NBC producer Alexa Ainsworth clarified that Maroney's toe "was broken before Classic and she just aggravated that here."

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6:57am

Fri July 27, 2012
2012 Olympics

Today: Lighting the Olympic cauldron, and angry fans

Originally published on Fri July 27, 2012 10:57 am

Credit Alexander Hassenstein / AFP/Getty Images

3:03pm

Wed April 18, 2012
NPR diversions

Drinking on the job - is 2012 the new 1966? Tech companies in the mix

Originally published on Wed April 18, 2012 8:56 am

Credit Ron Jaffe/AMC / AP

2:02pm

Thu April 12, 2012
The Two-Way

Ancient texts will go online from Oxford and Vatican libraries

Originally published on Thu April 12, 2012 9:22 am

Credit Oli Scarff / Getty Images

Biblical and antiquities scholars will soon have a new resource at their fingertips, as Oxford University's Bodleian Libraries and the Vatican Library launch a plan to digitize millions of pages of rare ancient texts. The scanned pages will be available online.

From Italy, Sylvia Poggioli filed this report for NPR's Newscast:

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3:06pm

Mon April 9, 2012
NPR tech news

Like the Instagram-Facebook $1 billion deal?

Originally published on Mon April 9, 2012 2:23 pm

Facebook's decision to acquire Instagram for $1 billion set off strong reactions among Instagram users Monday, when the deal was announced. And if any users of Instagram's photo-sharing service were in love with the deal, they seemed to be keeping pretty quiet about it.

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12:34pm

Thu March 8, 2012
The Two-Way

Solar storm goes easy on Earth — But more are sure to come, NASA says

Originally published on Fri March 9, 2012 9:07 am

Credit NASA/JPL

2:58pm

Wed March 7, 2012
The Two-Way

NPR Science: Sun sends solar flares speeding toward Earth, will hit Thursday

Originally published on Wed March 7, 2012 1:52 pm

Credit NASA

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