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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EU countries are threatening punitive economic measures against Russia for its involvement in Crimea, but longstanding ties between Russia and the EU could make sanctions a double-edged sword.
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France became the first European country this week to join a worldwide effort to destroy ivory. The goal is to send a warning to ivory traffickers and to anyone who might not consider buying it a serious crime.
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Celebrations in Tunisia on Tuesday are marking the third anniversary of the revolution that led to the ouster of its dictator and set in motion the regional uprisings of the Arab Spring. As huge crowds gather in the streets of the capital, members of the National Assembly are voting on a new constitution that has the approval of both secular groups, which are popular in the capital, and Islamists, whose strongholds are in the countryside. New parliamentary elections are expected later this year.
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Tunisian lawmakers are poised to give final approval to a new constitution later this week. Political wrangling over the document has long delayed the ratification process, but if the constitution gains final approval on Tuesday, as planned, it will set the stage for a new round of parliamentary elections.
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For more than two centuries, France's Pleyel pianos were among the best in the world. They were a favorite of Chopin and Debussy. But now the iconic brand has been forced to close its last remaining plant.
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For the third time in recent years, France has sent troops into a former African colony, the Central African Republic. The French public generally supports these missions, mainly because they are not to prop up dictators, as they have been in the past. -
The proposal would prohibit a corporate executive from making more than 12 times what a company's lowest-paid worker makes. Opponents warn it could drive companies and jobs out of Switzerland. But there is a growing mood across Europe in favor of limiting corporate pay.
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France is deep in debate, wondering if there's a resurgence of an old colonial racism, or if people have just become more tolerant of bigots. The questions stem from a series of race-based taunts against Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who is black. -
Like much of Europe, the French economy is still struggling. But a recent poll showed that more than 70 percent of the French were willing to pay more for goods made at home, and the numbers were supported by a strong turnout at a Made in France fair in Paris. -
For more than a century, French law has allowed stores to open on Sundays only under specific conditions. It also tightly controls other types of Sunday work. Several stores are now challenging that ban, as people question the tradition amid a languishing economy and a 24/7 world.
