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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12:22pm

Sat August 11, 2012
It's All Politics

Romney's Not Alone In Stumbling Over 'Next President' Line

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 3:21 pm

Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images

10:50am

Sat August 11, 2012
The Torch

Georgia Gould Wins Bronze Medal In Mountain Bike Cross-Country Race

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 12:25 pm

Credit Carl De Souza / AFP/Getty Images

U.S. cyclist Georgia Gould has won bronze in the women's mountain bike cross-country race. The gold medal went to France's Julie Bresset, who led from the start. Sabine Spitz of Germany won silver, after a late spill caused her to lose contact with Bresset.

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10:17am

Sat August 11, 2012
The Torch

Coming Up Saturday: Women's Basketball Final, Soccer, And More

On the penultimate day of the Olympics, an astounding 32 medal competitions will be decided today. Highlights include the men's soccer final, and women's basketball's gold medal game. Here's a quick rundown of events we'll be (trying to) watch:

Athletics

  • 2:00p Women's High Jump Final
  • 2:20p Men's Javelin Throw Final
  • 2:30p Men's 5000m Final
  • 3:00p Women's 800m Final
  • 3:25p Women's 4 x 400m Relay Final
  • 4:00p Men's 4 x 100m Relay Final
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4:46pm

Fri August 10, 2012
The Torch

U.S. Men's 400m Relay Team Claims Silver, As Bahamas Win Gold

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 5:18 pm

Credit Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images

The Bahamas men's team has won the 4x400m relay, edging past a surprisingly quick U.S. team to take the gold medal. It was the first gold medal for any male athlete from the Bahamas. The quartet ran a time of 2:56.72, setting a national record. The U.S. set a season best of 2:57.05 to take silver.

Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze medal, just ahead of Great Britain.

The Bahamas led the race after the first lap, with the U.S. running in second. And the two teams' runners stayed ahead of the pack, extending their lead to make it a two-team race.

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3:24pm

Fri August 10, 2012
The Torch

U.S. Breaks Through In Wrestling, As Burroughs Delivers Gold

Credit Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images

American wrestler Jordan Burroughs has won the first and only U.S. gold medal in his sport at the London Games, beating Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi of Iran. Burroughs, the reigning world champion at the 74kg weight, won a point in the first two periods to put a quick end to the men's freestyle match.

Goudarzi took silver with the loss, and the two bronze medals went to Russian Denis Tsargush, whom Burroughs defeated in the semifinals, and Sosan Tigiev of Uzbekistan.

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1:24pm

Fri August 10, 2012
The Torch

Year Of The Woman At The London Games? For Americans, It's True

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 6:27 pm

Credit Martin Bernetti / AFP/Getty Images

Every nation that sent a delegation to the London Games sent at least one female athlete — a first for the Olympics. This year's Team USA has more female than male athletes — and the women have won nearly twice as many medals: 100 total medals, by my count, to 59 for the men.

So yes, it looks like this is the Year of the Woman at the Olympics, particularly for the United States.

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10:03am

Fri August 10, 2012
The Torch

Let's Catch Up: Taekwondo Setback, And A Spice Girls Sighting

Credit William West / AFP/Getty Images

Good morning. The final weekend of the Summer Olympics is about to begin. In the medal count, the U.S. has jumped out to a 90-80 lead over China, with 39 golds to China's 37. And Russia has overtaken Great Britain, with 57 to the host nation's 54 medals.

Here's today's news that caught our interest:

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9:23am

Fri August 10, 2012
The Torch

Coming Up: Friday's Olympic Best Bets

Originally published on Mon August 13, 2012 10:25 am

Track and field will hold eight of today's 17 medal events, as the Summer Olympics moves into its final weekend. The U.S. men's basketball team plays to get into the gold medal game, and the day's highlights also include an intriguing men's soccer bronze-medal match between South Korea and Japan.

All times refer to the Eastern time zone:

Athletics

  • 2:00p Men's Pole Vault Final
  • 2:10p Women's 4 x 400m Relay Round 1
  • 2:35p Women's Hammer Throw Final
  • 2:45p Men's 4 x 100m Relay Round 1
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3:03pm

Thu August 9, 2012
The Torch

Women's Olympic Soccer Final: U.S. vs. Japan, For Gold

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 11:08 am

In Olympic women's soccer, the U.S. team has beaten Japan, 2-1, in the gold medal match at London's Wembley Stadium, a game that set a new attendance record with more than 80,000 spectators. Carli Lloyd scored both of the American goals, while U.S. stars Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach weren't able to finish their chances. But they were very active, and both players kept the Japanese defenders occupied around the goal.

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1:29pm

Thu August 9, 2012
The Torch

Teenager Claressa Shields Wins Historic Gold Medal In Women's Boxing

Originally published on Tue August 14, 2012 3:59 pm

Credit Jack Guez / AFP/Getty Images

She's still in high school, but boxer Claressa Shields, 17, is also an Olympic gold medalist, after she won her middleweight final Thursday. She defeated Russia's Nadezda Torlopova by a score of 19-12.

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