Melissa Block

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Melissa Block is a 28-year veteran of NPR and has been hosting All Things Considered since 2003, after nearly a decade as an NPR correspondent.

Frequently reporting from communities in the center of the news, Block was in Chengdu, China, preparing for a weeklong broadcast when a massive earthquake struck the region in May 2008. Immediately following the quake, Block, along with co-host Robert Siegel and their production team, traveled throughout Sichuan province to report extensively on the destruction and relief efforts. Their riveting coverage aired across all of NPR's programs and was carried on major news organizations around the world. In addition, the reporting was recognized with the industry's top honors including a Peabody Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, a National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award.

Throughout her career, Block has covered major news events for NPR ranging from on-the-scene reporting from the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the days following Hurricane Katrina to a series from Texas gauging the impact of the Iraq War on the surrounding communities. Her reporting after the September 11, 2001 attacks was part of coverage that earned NPR a George Foster Peabody Award. Block's reporting from Kosovo in 1999 was cited among stories for which NPR News won an Overseas Press Club Award.

Around the Nation

5:28 pm

Mon May 20, 2013

The Low-Tech Way Guns Get Traced

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Credit Melissa Block / NPR

ATF Special Agent Charles Houser runs the National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, W.Va.

Credit Cliff Owen / AP

Document prep technician Carol Sine (left) and tracer Debra Barrett process firearm transaction documents at the National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, W.Va.

Credit Cliff Owen / AP

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) processes firearm transaction documents from firearms dealers no longer in business, no matter the condition of the documents, such as this fire-and-water damaged ledger at their National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, W.Va.

By Melissa Block

Originally published on Mon May 20, 2013 9:06 pm

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Opponents of expanding background checks for gun sales often raise the fear that it would allow the government to create a national gun registry — a database of gun transactions. In fact, federal law already bans the creation of such a registry. And the reality of how gun sales records are accessed turns out to be surprisingly low-tech.

5:59 pm

Fri April 19, 2013

Boeing's 787 Dreamliners To Fly Again After FAA Approval

By Melissa Block

Originally published on Fri April 19, 2013 10:51 pm

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Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And as we continue to cover the events in the Boston area, we want to also talk about one other story, Boeing 787. The jet known as the Dreamliner will be back in the air soon. This afternoon, the FAA approved Boeing's redesign of the plane's battery system. Fifty 787s have been grounded for the last three months following two serious battery failures, one which led to a fire.

6:07 pm

Thu April 11, 2013

Report: North Korea May Be Able To Deliver Nuclear Weapons

By Melissa Block

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block. A stunning revelation today from a member of Congress. It came from Republican Doug Lamborn, of Colorado, during an exchange on Capitol Hill with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lamborn cited a Defense Intelligence Agency report on North Korea's military capability, one that had not yet been released. Here's what Rep. Lamborn said.

7:00 pm

Thu March 21, 2013

On Gun Ownership And Policy, 'A Country Of Chasms'

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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

Gun enthusiast Paul Gwaltney at Blue Ridge Arsenal, in Chantilly, Va. Gwaltney, an NPR listener, agreed to host a discussion about guns with friends and colleagues.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

(Clockwise from top left) Chuck Riddle, Renee Riddle, Athena Norman, George Hartogensis, Jeremy Riddle and Casey Riddle all joined Gwaltney in his home to discuss their views on guns and gun control.

By Melissa Block

Originally published on Thu March 21, 2013 7:55 pm

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The ideological gulf between gun owners and non-gun owners is a wide one — made all the more obvious by the ongoing debate over what, if any, gun control measures should be adopted in the U.S.

Sometimes, the debate feels like people are coming from different worlds, even for people within the same family. And while Americans are often willing to discuss their own views, it's rarer to hear conversations between people who own and love guns and those who do not.

6:02 pm

Mon March 18, 2013

Among Thousands Of Gun Deaths, Only One Charles Foster Jr.

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Credit Mike Haskey / Courtesy of The Ledger Enquirer

Led by the Rev. Willie Phillips (center), protesters march in February against violence in and around Club Majestic.

Credit Courtesy of the Foster family

Charles Foster Jr. was shot and killed in a nightclub on Jan. 1, 2013. The first in his family to attend college, he was just a few months shy of graduation.

Credit Melissa Block / NPR

Phillips keeps a binder of clippings about local anti-violence marches, stories about the Majestic and obituaries of young people who have been killed by gun violence.

Credit Melissa Block / NPR

The Majestic Sports Bar in Columbus, Ga. Local residents say the club has been the site of violence for years.

By Melissa Block

Originally published on Mon March 18, 2013 9:45 pm

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The Morris Missionary Baptist Church is nestled down a red dirt road, in Morris, Ga., set among pine trees near the Alabama state line. Next to the small white church lies its most recent grave site: that of Charles Foster Jr.

While the mass killings in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., garnered a frenzy of news coverage, statistically, they are not the norm. Each year, thousands of gun homicides in the U.S. — 11,000 in 2010 alone — attract little or no media attention.

7:11 pm

Tue February 12, 2013

Fugitive Ex-LAPD Officer Apparently Barracaded In Cabin

By Melissa Block

Originally published on Mon February 25, 2013 1:19 pm

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Kirk Siegler talks to Melissa Block for an update on the search for former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner. A man that authorities identified as Dorner was holed up in a cabin near Big Bear Lake, Calif., on Tuesday evening. Hundreds of officers surrounded the home. Dorner is wanted for questioning in three murders and one attempted murder.

Africa

4:35 pm

Tue January 29, 2013

U.S. May Build Base For Drones In Northwest Africa

By Melissa Block

Originally published on Mon February 4, 2013 2:29 pm

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Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

We're going to head west now, from Egypt across Libya to Niger. The Pentagon has signed a deal with the government there. The agreement could allow the U.S. to establish a forward base in Niger so that it could operate drone aircraft across northern and western Africa. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman has been reporting on the U.S. military's growing presence on the continent. He joins me now here in the studio.

And Tom, how close is the U.S. to actually setting up a drone base in Niger?