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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Journalist Identifies Photographer Who Died After Taking Illegal Photos of Wartime Paris
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The Japanese grassroots group Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of World War II atomic bombing survivors, has won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to create a world free of nuclear weapons.
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High-speed rail traffic to Paris was disrupted by what officials described as “criminal actions” and sabotage.
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After years of promises and more than $1 billion of investment, Paris’s once-filthy river is finally swimmable. And the mayor proved it just days before the July 26 Olympic deadline.
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In results that defied polls, France’s far-right national rally party was relegated to third place in legislative elections, routed by a diverse leftist coalition cobbled together only weeks ago.
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The National Rally holds a strong lead in France's first round of legislative elections, polling agencies projected -- bringing the party closer to being able to form a government in round two.
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President Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called the snap vote after the far-right party of Marine Le Pen trounced his centrist party in European parliament elections last weekend.
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President Biden is joining other European leaders in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings that began the liberation of the continent from Nazi occupation in World War 2.
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The French overseas territory of New Caledonia has returned to a relative calm after last week's rioting killed at least six people, and exacted a billion dollars in damage to property and businesses.
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France has officially welcomed the Olympic flame in a ceremony in the southern port city of Marseille. The event featured fighter jets and fireworks, and some 200,000 spectators.