Eleanor Beardsley
Eleanor Beardsley began reporting from France for NPR in 2004 as a freelance journalist, following all aspects of French society, politics, economics, culture and gastronomy. Since then, she has steadily worked her way to becoming an integral part of the NPR Europe reporting team.
Beardsley has been an active part of NPR's coverage of terrorist attacks in Paris and in Brussels. She has also followed the migrant crisis, traveling to meet and report on arriving refugees in Hungary, Austria, Germany, Sweden and France. She has also traveled to Ukraine, including the flashpoint eastern city of Donetsk, to report on the war there, and to Athens, to follow the Greek debt crisis.
In 2011, Beardsley covered the first Arab Spring revolution in Tunisia, where she witnessed the overthrow of the autocratic President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Since then she has returned to the North African country many times.
In France, Beardsley has covered three presidential elections, including the surprising win by outsider Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Less than two years later, Macron's presidency was severely tested by France's Yellow vest movement, which Beardsley followed closely.
Beardsley especially enjoys historical topics and has covered several anniversaries of the Normandy D-day invasion as well as the centennial of World War I.
In sports, Beardsley closely covered the Women's World Soccer Cup held in France in June 2019 (and won by Team USA!) and regularly follows the Tour de France cycling race.
Prior to moving to Paris, Beardsley worked for three years with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. She also worked as a television news producer for French broadcaster TF1 in Washington, D.C., and as a staff assistant to South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond.
Reporting from France for Beardsley is the fulfillment of a lifelong passion for the French language and culture. At the age of 10 she began learning French by reading the Asterix the Gaul comic book series with her father.
While she came to the field of radio journalism relatively late in her career, Beardsley says her varied background, studies and travels prepared her for the job. "I love reporting on the French because there are so many stereotypes about them in America," she says. "Sometimes it's fun to dispel the false notions and show a different side of the Gallic character. And sometimes the old stereotypes do hold up. But whether Americans love or hate France and the French, they're always interested!"
A native of South Carolina, Beardsley has a Bachelor of Arts in European history and French from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and a master's degree in International Business from the University of South Carolina.
Beardsley is interested in politics, travel and observing foreign cultures. Her favorite cities are Paris and Istanbul.
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Ray Lambert, one of the few living veterans who fought in the 1944 battle, was in the first wave of U.S. troops to hit Omaha Beach. The army medic returns to Normandy to mark 75 years since D-Day.
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As the U.S. fights a trade war with China — Beijing, with its Belt and Road Initiative, is redoubling its attention on Europe.
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Yellow Vest protestors plan their weekly demonstrations in the wake of the fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral and calls for unity from the French president.
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Notre Dame caught fire Monday and was badly damaged. Officials are expressing hope that they can save a cathedral that's stood at the heart of France's capital for eight centuries.
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Global reliance on just a handful of crops for calories is hurting the environment — and wildlife, a new report says. It urges the world to diversify its diet to save plant and animal species alike. -
A French couple, who's daughter was killed in Syria after she joined ISIS, is hoping to bring her children to live with them in France.
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There has been a large turnout for hundreds of town hall debates across France, called by President Emmanuel Macron in an effort to diffuse social tensions amid the yellow vest protests.
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The president promised to revolutionize France when he was elected in 2017, and his plans economic overhaul seemed on track even two months ago. But many experts say Macron is already finished.
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The yellow vest protests continue in France despite President Emmanuel Macron's attempts to mollify the protesters.
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The French government canceled the planned hike in the fuel tax but protesters are now making new demands. Protesters in Hazebrouck, France, say the government is out of touch with the masses.
