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.

Pages

The Two-Way
9:35 am
Sat June 15, 2013

'Immigrants Are More Fertile,' Jeb Bush Says In Reform Speech

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
"Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families," former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference. Bush's statement, in support of immigration reform, struck an odd note with many who hear it.

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 9:21 pm

Jeb Bush has created a stir with remarks he made during a speech on immigration, in which he said that women who immigrate to America are more fertile than women who are born in the country.

"Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans, over the last 20 years," Bush said. "Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity."

Read more
The Two-Way
4:43 pm
Mon June 10, 2013

BP Ends Oil Spill Cleanup In Gulf, Except For Louisiana

Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
BP is scaling back its cleanup efforts from the Deepwater Horizon oilspill in areas outside Louisiana. Here, a photo from last September shows alluvial clay and tar mats on the shore of Elmer's Island, in Jefferson Parish, La.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 2:50 pm

BP is ending its cleanup of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in three Gulf Coast states this month, leaving Louisiana as the only state with ongoing cleanup linked to the company's Deepwater Horizon Response effort. Reports of oil sightings in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida will soon be the U.S. Coast Guard's responsibility to investigate.

For NPR's Newscast unit, Debbie Elliott reports:

Read more
The Two-Way
8:01 pm
Fri June 7, 2013

Grand Jury Indicts Ariel Castro On 329 Counts

Originally published on Fri June 7, 2013 7:37 pm

Ariel Castro, whose Cleveland, Ohio, home allegedly became a prison for three kidnapped young women, has been indicted on 329 counts by a grand jury. Other charges include 177 counts of kidnapping and 139 counts of rape, as well as aggravated murder, a charge stemming from "the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy."

Read more
The Two-Way
5:30 pm
Fri June 7, 2013

At Least Four Dead, Several Hurt In Santa Monica Shootings, Police Say

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Students rush to safety after shots were fired near the Santa Monica College Friday. According to reports, at least six people were shot, and a suspect was taken into custody. One shooting victim died of her injuries during surgery.

Originally published on Fri June 7, 2013 11:53 pm

(Last updated at 11:45 p.m. ET)

As many as four people died in a series of shootings in Santa Monica Friday, according to city police chief Jacqueline Seabrooks. The gunman was eventually shot to death in an exchange of fire with police in the library of Santa Monica College, she said at a news conference.

Police said earlier that seven people were killed, but later corrected that number to five people total, including the gunman, at a news conference Friday night.

Read more
The Two-Way
6:45 pm
Thu June 6, 2013

Tropical Storm Andrea Makes Landfall In Florida

Credit National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center's tracking system placed Tropical Storm Andrea on Florida's Gulf coast, level with Gainesville, Thursday afternoon. The storm is expected to spread rain and strong winds along the Southeastern coast tonight and Friday.

Originally published on Thu June 6, 2013 6:02 pm

Tropical Storm Andrea has made landfall on Florida's Big Bend area, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reports. As of 5:45 p.m. ET, the center's tracking system placed the storm on the state's Gulf coast, level with Gainesville. Andrea is expected to spread rain and strong winds along the Southeastern coast tonight and Friday.

Read more
The Two-Way
9:30 pm
Mon June 3, 2013

Mississippi Man Indicted In Ricin Letters Case

Credit Rogelio V. Solis / AP
James Everett Dutschke has been indicted on five counts related to letters containing the poison ricin that were sent to President Obama and others.

Originally published on Mon June 3, 2013 8:45 pm

James Everett Dutschke, the Mississippi man arrested in April on suspicions that he sent letters containing the poison ricin to President Obama and other officials, has been indicted on five federal charges, from sending threats in the mail to knowingly making and possessing "a biological agent... for use as a weapon."

Maximum punishments for the counts leveled against Dutschke, 41, range from five years to life in prison.

Read more
The Two-Way
4:35 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

On Way To Prom, Florida Teens Pile Out Of Limo To Aid Flipped Van

Credit Good Morning America - ABC

A limousine filled with students headed to prom night at Western High in Davie, Fla., stopped for a detour Saturday, after a Honda van veered into a concrete wall and flipped in front of the limo. The van's seven passengers had trouble getting out — until the limo's driver and the students came to their aid.

Read more
The Two-Way
12:29 pm
Sun May 12, 2013

Free On Mother's Day, Former Captives Ask For Time, Privacy

Credit Tony Dejak / AP
Workers board up the house where three women were held in Cleveland Saturday. Suspect Ariel Castro, who allegedly held three women captive for nearly a decade, is charged with rape and kidnapping. Sunday, the women asked for privacy and time to connect with their families.

Originally published on Sun May 12, 2013 12:45 pm

The three women who were rescued from years of captivity in a house in Cleveland released a statement on this Mother's Day to let their supporters know that they're glad to be home. They also asked for privacy and time to reconnect with their families.

Attorney Jim Wooley read short statements from Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, in which they expressed their gratitude "for the generous assistance and loving support of their families, friends, and the community."

They also thanked law enforcement agencies.

Read more
The Two-Way
11:45 am
Fri May 10, 2013

Spire Intact, World Trade Center Stretches To 1,776 Feet

Originally published on Fri May 10, 2013 11:32 am

With its glittering spire firmly attached, the new World Trade Center became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere on Friday morning. The building at One World Trade Center now stands at 1,776 feet.

"It will give a tremendous indication to people around the entire region, and the world, that we're back and better than ever," Steven Plate, the head of construction at the World Trade Center, said last week when the spire was hauled to the top of the building.

Read more
The Two-Way
11:10 am
Mon April 29, 2013

Tamerlan Tsarnaev Spoke Of Jihad With Mother, Reports Say

Credit Getty Images / Getty Images
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, center, mother of Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, reportedly spoke of radical ideas with her eldest son in 2011. Anzor Tsarnaeva, the boys' father, is on the left. At right is the boys' aunt, Patimat Suleymanova.

Originally published on Sun April 28, 2013 9:04 am

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev "vaguely discussed" jihad during a 2011 phone conversation with his mother, according to a U.S. official who described the recording to the Associated Press. The call, taped by a Russian government agency, reportedly did not include any mention of a plot inside the U.S.

Read more

Pages