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 Torch
12:37 pm
Fri August 3, 2012

Phelps And Franklin Add To Their Medal Totals, And A New Teen Phenom Emerges

Originally published on Fri August 3, 2012 2:08 pm

In one of the last showcase days for swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics, American athletes Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin hit the pool at London's aquatic center Friday. Each of them were on a mission to end their individual event schedules with gold medals.

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The Torch
8:54 am
Fri August 3, 2012

Federer Wins Epic Semifinal, Taking More Than Four Hours To Do So

Credit Clive Brunskill / Getty Images
Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in their Olympic semifinal played at Wimbledon. Federer won the match, which took more than 4 hours to play.

Originally published on Fri August 3, 2012 9:25 am

Swiss tennis star Roger Federer kept his Olympic dream alive Friday, when he won the longest tennis singles match in Olympic history. He defeated Juan Del Potro of Argentina, in a semifinal played on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

The final score of the three-set match, which lasted more than four hours and 20 minutes, was 3-6, 7-6, 19-17. Federer will next face the winner of Friday's semifinal between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the final.

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The Torch
6:39 am
Fri August 3, 2012

Let's Catch Up: IOC Targets Rogue WiFi; A Rower In A Row; And A Rifle Record

Credit Marwan Naamani / AFP/Getty Images
Gold medalist Sergei Martynov of Belarus competes in the 50m rifle prone final, in which he set a new world record, at the Royal Artillery Barracks in London.

It's Day 7 of competition at the London Olympics, and America has found a new contestant in its continual quest for a sweetheart: Gabby Douglas, the only gymnast who already has two gold medals before individual rounds begin. And still, it seems, some folks prefer to talk about Douglas' hair.

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The Torch
6:17 am
Fri August 3, 2012

Coming Up Today: Track And Field Begins; More Swimming Finals

The big news on Day 7 of competition in the 2012 Summer Olympics is that Track and Field events — or, "Athletics," if you're an Olympic scheduler — finally get on the track and field.

Here's a look at Olympic highlights for Friday, and events we'll keep an eye on. All times are EDT:

Swimming

  • 2:30p Women's 200m Backstroke Final
  • 2:38p Men's 100m Butterfly Final
  • 2:45p Women's 800m Freestyle Final
  • 3:09p Men's 50m Freestyle Final

Track and Field

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The Torch
11:57 am
Thu August 2, 2012

Soni Breaks Record On Way To Gold In 200m Breaststroke

Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 2:51 pm

Breaking News Update at 3:27 p.m. ET: Phelps Wins Gold For 20th Medal.

Michael Phelps has won the men's 200-meter individual medley at the 2012 Summer Games, winning his 20th Olympic medal — and his first individual gold medal in London.

Phelps led Lochte by .16 of one second at the first turn, in the butterfly. He maintained his lead in the backstroke — the discipline Lochte had just raced in half an hour earlier in the day.

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The Torch
11:55 am
Thu August 2, 2012

U.S. Gymnast Douglas Wins Gold In Individual All-Around

Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 8:55 pm

American gymnast Gabby Douglas has won her second Olympic gold medal of the London Summer Games, winning the individual all-around event to match her performance anchoring the U.S. team's first-place performance earlier this week.

Douglas scored 15.500 or higher in her first three rotations, with an emphatic 15.966 on her vault. Her final score was 62.232.

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The Torch
9:39 am
Thu August 2, 2012

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

Credit Alex Livesey / Getty Images
The Mods' New King? Cyclist Bradley Wiggins sits on a chair that looks an awful lot like a throne, after winning an Olympic gold medal Wednesday. Hailed in Britain for his mod tastes and funny tweets, Wiggins celebrated his win by getting "blind drunk," he said.

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

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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The Torch
8:50 am
Thu August 2, 2012

Kayla Harrison Completes Her Comeback With Historic Gold Medal In Judo

Credit Franck Fife / AFP/Getty Images
U.S. judoka Kayla Harrison reacts after winning the women's 78kg gold medal at London's ExCel arena.

Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 3:39 pm

Kayla Harrison has defeated Britain's Gemma Gibbons in the women's 78kg judo final. It is the first gold medal for Harrison, 22, a native of Middletown, Ohio — and the first Olympic gold medal for an American in the event.

Harrison sprang out to an early lead in the match and then sealed it with another late score. She holds multiple world champion titles, despite her young age.

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The Torch
6:33 am
Thu August 2, 2012

Coming Up Thursday: Women's Gymnastics, Swimming Showdowns

Credit Alex Livesey / Getty Images
Jose Manuel Martin Dockx of Spain rides Grandioso in the Dressage Grand Prix on Day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Greenwich Park Thursday.

It's Day 6 of the London Games, and two big events await: first, the women's gymnastics individual all-around medal will be decided. Americans Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman are in the final round, which begins at 11:30 a.m. ET. Then, swimmers Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Missy Franklin try to add to their medal totals.

Phelps and Lochte face off in the men's 200m individual medley, while Franklin will race in what should be a very competitive women's 100m freestyle. All eight swimmers in her race qualified with times between 53.05 and 53.86 seconds.

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The Torch
6:02 am
Thu August 2, 2012

Let's Catch Up: U.S. Women Rowers Prevail, And NBC's Water Polo Coverage

Credit Eric Feferberg / AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. team races to their second straight gold medal in the women's eight rowing event at the London 2012 Olympic Games, at Eton Dorney Rowing Centre in Eton, west of London.

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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