Melissa Block
As special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs, Melissa Block brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting. Her work over the decades has earned her journalism's highest honors, and has made her one of NPR's most familiar and beloved voices.
As co-host of All Things Considered from 2003 to 2015, Block's reporting took her everywhere from the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the heart of Rio de Janeiro; from rural Mozambique to the farthest reaches of Alaska.
Her riveting reporting from Sichuan, China, during and after the massive earthquake in 2008 brought the tragedy home to millions of listeners around the world. At the moment the earthquake hit, Block had the presence of mind to record a gripping, real-time narration of the seismic upheaval she was witnessing. Her long-form story about a desperate couple searching in the rubble for their toddler son was singled out by judges who awarded NPR's earthquake coverage the top honors in broadcast journalism: the George Foster Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Award, Edward R. Murrow Award, National Headliner Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award.
Now, as special correspondent, Block continues to engage both the heart and the mind with her reporting on issues from gun violence to adult illiteracy to opioid addiction.
In 2017, she traveled the country for the series "Our Land," visiting a wide range of communities to explore how our identity is shaped by where we live. For that series, she paddled along the Mississippi River, went in search of salmon off the Alaska coast, and accompanied an immigrant family as they became U.S. citizens. Her story about the legacy of the Chinese community in the Mississippi Delta earned her a James Beard Award in 2018.
Block is the recipient of the 2019 Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, awarded by the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, as well as the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fulbright Association.
Block began her career at NPR in 1985 as an editorial assistant for All Things Considered, and rose through the ranks to become the program's senior producer.
She was a reporter and correspondent in New York from 1994 to 2002, a period punctuated by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Her reporting after those attacks helped earn NPR a George Foster Peabody Award. Block's reporting on rape as a weapon of war in Kosovo was cited by the Overseas Press Club of America in awarding NPR the Lowell Thomas Award in 1999.
Block is a 1983 graduate of Harvard University and spent the following year on a Fulbright fellowship in Geneva, Switzerland. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband — writer Stefan Fatsis — and their daughter.
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Salem Chalabi, nephew of former U.S. adviser Ahmed Chalabi, denies allegations that he was involved in the June murder of the Iraqi finance ministry's director. An arrest warrant has been issued for Chalabi, who is currently overseeing the special tribunal for prosecuting Saddam Hussein. Hear Salem Chalabi and NPR's Melissa Block.
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President George Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry take their campaigns to Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday. In speeches to voters, Kerry discussed jobs and the economy and the president spoke of the war on terror. Hear NPR's Melissa Block, NPR's Don Gonyea and NPR's Scott Horsley.
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President George Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry take their campaigns to Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday. Kerry discussed jobs and the economy with the morning business group meeting he was attending. The president spoke of the war on terror at an outdoor rally with his supporters. Hear NPR's Melissa Block.
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The Supreme Court decides to consider the constitutionality of federal sentencing guidelines. The court agreed to fast-track the case, since a related ruling this summer about state sentencing guidelines threw courts across the country into confusion. At issue is the power of judges to single-handedly adjust the length of criminals' sentences. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Douglas Berman, professor at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University
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The Democratic National Convention begins in Boston, a city of political sensibilities that nonetheless has never hosted a Democratic or Republican presidential nominating event. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Melissa Block. -
The Senate Intelligence Committee hears testimony about reforming U.S. intelligence services, weeks after it released a report criticizing the agencies. Committee chairman Pat Roberts said the hearings were the beginning of a major re-examination of how the CIA and other intelligence organizations should work. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Mary Louise Kelly.
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Outcry over the removal of classified documents from the National Archives leads Sandy Berger to step down from an advisory role in the Kerry campaign. Berger, the former national security adviser to President Clinton, has not been charged in the FBI investigation. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's David Welna.
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Detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being informed of their new rights, following a Supreme Court decision that allows them to challenge their imprisonment. Interrogations are continuing at the facility, where officials are also continuing to separate the inmates by threat levels. NPR's Melissa Block talks with NPR's Jackie Northam.
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Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay is indicted by a grand jury on unnamed charges related to the energy company's collapse. Lay, who insists on his innocence, plans to surrender to authorities in Houston Thursday morning, when a hearing is scheduled. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Mary Flood of The Houston Chronicle.
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President Bush is questioned by federal prosecutors investigating the leak of an undercover CIA operative's identity. The interview took place at the White House and lasted about 70 minutes. The CIA operative's name was made public by columnist Robert Novak last July. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Don Gonyea.
