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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The Two-Way
4:39 pm
Fri May 24, 2013

Google Reportedly Faces FTC Antitrust Probe Over Display Ads

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 2:52 pm

The Federal Trade Commission is in the early stages of opening an antitrust probe into how Google runs its online display advertising business, according to a report by Bloomberg News, citing sources who want to remain anonymous because the FTC has not announced the probe.

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The Two-Way
1:52 pm
Fri May 24, 2013

Study Is First To Chart Amphibian Populations' Decline In U.S.

Credit Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images
Populations of frogs and other amphibians are declining at an average rate of 3.7 percent each year, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 1:37 pm

Populations of frogs, salamanders and other amphibians are declining at an average rate of 3.7 percent each year, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study released this week. Researchers say the study is the first to calculate how quickly amphibians are disappearing in the United States.

"If the rate observed is representative and remains unchanged, these species would disappear from half of the habitats they currently occupy in about 20 years," according to the USGS.

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The Two-Way
10:17 am
Tue May 21, 2013

Oklahoma Tornado: Finding Aid, Giving Aid

Credit Brett Deering / Getty Images
Aid groups are mobilizing relief efforts to help victims of the storm. Here, Candice Lopez, left, and Stephanie Davis help clean debris from Thelma Cox's mobile home near Shawnee, Okla., after it was destroyed Monday.

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 10:40 am

Residents of Moore, Okla., are searching for survivors and coming to terms with a massive tornado that left dozens of people dead and injured more than 200 others Monday afternoon. As aid and recovery groups search for victims and try to reunite loved ones, they're also seeking donations and coordinating housing:

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The Two-Way
5:35 pm
Wed May 15, 2013

Publisher Threatens Librarian With $1 Billion Lawsuit

Originally published on Wed May 15, 2013 3:00 pm

A scholarly publisher has issued a warning to Jeffrey Beall, a librarian who writes about what he calls "predatory" practices in the scholarly publishing industry, threatening him with a $1 billion lawsuit for his blog posts criticizing the company.

Beall is an academic librarian at the University of Colorado; he writes about the journal industry on his personal blog, Scholarly Open Access.

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The Two-Way
1:48 pm
Thu May 9, 2013

Colorado Lawmakers Set Taxes And Rules For Marijuana Sales

Credit Ed Andrieski / AP
Colorado lawmakers approved two taxes on marijuana — a 15 percent excise tax, and a 10 percent sales tax. A photo depicts a quarter of an ounce, left, and one ounce of marijuana, along with a handful of rolled joints at a Denver dispensary.

Originally published on Thu May 9, 2013 1:09 pm

Colorado is set to become the first U.S. state to regulate and tax sales of recreational marijuana, after lawmakers approved several bills that set business standards and rules. Legislators expect enforcement of the rules to be paid for by two taxes on marijuana — a 15 percent excise tax, and a 10 percent sales tax.

Other measures included in the package set limits on how much marijuana visitors to Colorado can buy (a quarter of an ounce), as well as a limit on how many cannabis plants a private citizen can grow (six).

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The Two-Way
6:50 am
Mon May 6, 2013

Israel Reportedly Attacks Syrian Facility, In An Escalation

Credit AP
An image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows an airstrike hitting the area around Damascus, Syria, early Sunday.

Originally published on Sun May 12, 2013 8:25 am

Israeli warplanes attacked a military research center near Damascus early Sunday, according to intelligence reports and Syrian state media. The attack prompted Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad to deem it a "declaration of war" by Israel, CNN reports.

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The Two-Way
4:37 pm
Sun April 28, 2013

Obama And O'Brien Take Jabs At Politics And Media (Highlights)

Credit CSPAN
President Obama joked at the White House Correspondents' Dinner that he had experimented with bangs to liven up his second term, stealing a fashion tip from the first lady, Michelle Obama.

Originally published on Sun April 28, 2013 2:38 pm

The Two-Way
8:57 pm
Sat April 27, 2013

Suspect In Ricin Letters Case Could Face Life In Prison (Updated)

Originally published on Mon April 29, 2013 6:13 am

Federal agents who are investigating poison-laced letters that were sent to President Obama and others have arrested Everett Dutschke, of Tupelo, Miss. The Daily Journal of Tupelo reports that the arrest occurred around 1 a.m. Saturday.

In addition to the president, letters containing the poison ricin were sent to Sen. Roger Wicker and a Mississippi state judge.

Update at 11:55 a.m. ET. Charges Filed, Court Date Set

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The Two-Way
6:32 am
Mon April 22, 2013

Midwest River Towns Ready Themselves For Cresting Floodwaters

Credit Jeff Roberson / AP
In Clarksville, Mo., Bob Bailey adjusts a pump as he tries to keep floodwater from the Mississippi River out of a rental property Sunday. The small community has worked for days to build a makeshift sandbag levee.

Originally published on Sun April 21, 2013 6:28 pm

Towns in Missouri, central Illinois and at least four other Midwestern states are under a flood warning, as heavy spring rains swell the Mississippi and other rivers to dangerously high crests. In some areas, rivers have already hit record flood levels.

In places where residents have been forced to evacuate their homes, the American Red Cross has set up shelters at schools and other facilities.

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The Two-Way
6:21 am
Mon April 22, 2013

Miranda Rights And Tsarnaev: Ex-U.S. Attorney General Weighs In

Credit Matt Rourke / AP
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said Friday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, suspected of carrying out a bombing attack on the Boston Marathon, will not be read his Miranda rights before he is questioned.

Originally published on Sun April 21, 2013 4:06 pm

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has not yet been questioned — but officials' decision not to read him his Miranda rights before interrogation is the subject of much debate.

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