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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Unhappy with the pensions reforms rammed through by President Emmanuel Macron, millions of French citizens have been protesting. But the law is still set to go into effect later this year.
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Ukraine's counteroffensive is expected any day, and there's a debate about whether taking back Crimea is a good idea for Ukraine to do.
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One of the most symbolic restorations at Notre Dame cathedral is the rebuilding of its spire. An exact replica of the 19th century masterpiece will begin rising in the Paris sky this summer.
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The fighting in Ukraine has been especially intense in the eastern Donbas region. Towns near the besieged city of Bakhmut are bracing. If it falls under Russian control, they know they could be next.
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Since the start of the war, thousands of Ukrainian children were sent or taken to Russia. Human rights organizations allege Russia is trying to indoctrinate those children against their home country.
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The battle over the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been a deadly slugfest that has reduced it to ruins. Ukrainian medics have worked hard to support and treat wounded soldiers.
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Ukraine's military is asking its allies for modern aircraft to fight Russian forces. In the meantime, it is making do with Soviet-era equipment, like the many vintage helicopters in Ukraine's fleet.
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February Morning, an online TV channel broadcast in Russian, offers its audience a different take on the war in Ukraine. Its founder says his goal is nothing less than the end of the Putin regime. -
Kharkiv was attacked but did not fall to the Russians. Thousands of residents fled, but one street artist — called the "Ukrainian Banksy" — remained and continued his work.
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Drones hit two dormitories and an educational facility in the city of Rzhyshchiv, south of the capital Kyiv, partially destroying them.
