The Two-Way
7:51 am
Tue October 23, 2012

BBC Chief Faces Parliament Over Child Sex Abuse Scandal

Credit Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
BBC Director General George Entwistle leaves Portcullis House in Parliament after giving evidence to a select committee on Tuesday.

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 8:38 am

The vaunted British Broadcasting Corporation is in the midst of a child sexual abuse scandal that has cast a shadow over the broadcaster's reputation.

The New York Times reports that George Entwistle, the head of the BBC, sat before a Parliamentary panel. In fact it was the same panel that took the lead in the investigation of the phone hacking scandal that brought Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to its knees.

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The Two-Way
7:16 am
Tue October 23, 2012

With 9-0 Win, Giants Advance, Will Face Tigers In World Series

Credit Christian Petersen / Getty Images
Angel Pagan (No. 16) of the San Francisco Giants celebrates after the Giants' 9-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series in San Francisco.

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 1:33 pm

The San Francisco Giants have completed another improbable journey to the World Series. Last night, they blew out the defending champions St. Louis Cardinals 9-0. They did so in Game 7, clawing their way back from 3-1 series deficit.

That means that they became only the third team in major league history to climb back that far in a National League Championship Series. The Braves did it in 1996 and the Marlins did it in 2003.

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Strange News
4:53 am
Tue October 23, 2012

A Captive Beluga Whale's Remarkably Human Song

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep with a tale of the singing whale. Scientists this week published a study of a captive beluga whale in San Diego. The whale began to sing, apparently after spending time close to people. It died several years ago, but left behind a recording that sounds like a person in the shower.

(SOUNDBITE OF WHALE SINGING)

INSKEEP: We do not know if during his lifetime the singing whale ever made it to a karaoke bar.

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Presidential Race
4:53 am
Tue October 23, 2012

Candidates Inject Economy Into Foreign Policy Debate

Originally published on Sun October 28, 2012 8:46 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

The third and final presidential debate was less dramatic than the ones before.

GREENE: Less dramatic but not without some drama. President Obama and Mitt Romney discussed foreign policy under the questioning of moderator Bob Schieffer.

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U.S.
4:53 am
Tue October 23, 2012

Maryland To Vote On Its Own Dream Act

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We've heard some discussion of immigration in this year's presidential campaign. We have not seen much immigration legislation move on Capitol Hill. But one state is holding a referendum on a local version of an immigration bill that's been debated in Washington. The so-called Maryland Dream Act would offer in-state tuition rates to undocumented college students residing in Maryland. But as Jacob Fenston reports, even in that solidly blue state the legislation is causing a stir.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Singing) We are the dreamers.

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Strange News
4:48 am
Tue October 23, 2012

Bridge Designers Envision Giant Trampolines

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 4:53 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Mark Stencel is managing editor for digital news. He is responsible for overseeing the journalism on NPR's website and other platforms and gizmos.

Since Stencel joined NPR in 2009, the network has been recognized as one of industry's leading digital news services, honored with the 2011 Eppy award for best journalism website from Editor & Publisher, a 2010 National Press Foundation award for excellence in online journalism, two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a Peabody award, and the 2011 Webby and People's Voice awards for news from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Stencel previously worked in both print and online journalism, and on the editorial and business sides of publishing. He was the executive editor and deputy publisher at GOVERNING, a monthly magazine and website written for leaders in state and local government and published by Congressional Quarterly. Stencel served as a managing editor at CQ, where he helped lead one of the largest news staffs on Capitol Hill, coordinating daily coverage of Congress, online and in print. Stencel also wrote regular columns and e-mail newsletters on technology trends for both GOVERNING and CQ Weekly.

Stencel began his career at the Washington Post as an assistant to syndicated columnist David S. Broder and as a researcher for the newspaper's national politics staff. After a stint as a science and technology correspondent for The News & Observer in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina — one of the first newspapers in the country to publish a web edition — Stencel returned to the Post in 1996 to help launch the company's first website: PoliticsNow, an election-year multimedia partnership involving ABC News, Newsweek and National Journal. Stencel then directed washingtonpost.com's award-winning political coverage, including President Clinton's impeachment and the 1998 and 2000 elections. Later, as a senior editor on the newspaper's breaking news desk, he served as a liaison between the Post's print and online newsrooms, coordinating coverage of the 2003 Iraq invasion, the 2004 election and other major stories.

In addition to his work as an editor, Stencel was a vice president at the Post Company's online division, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, where he directed the business side of early mobile and multimedia efforts and managed content partnerships and projects with other news organizations, online publishers and mobile phone carriers and device makers. Stencel worked with the company's editorial, marketing and sales leaders to cultivate the Post's growing online audience across the country and around the world — a new line of business for what had been a local newspaper, despite its national reputation. (In that role, he briefly served as the digital division's "vice president for global conquest.")

Stencel is the co-author of two books on media and politics — Peep Show: Media and Politics and in an Age of Scandal, written with political scientists Larry J. Sabato and S. Robert Lichter; and On the Line: The New Road to the White House, written with CNN's Larry King. He continues to write about science and technology, including digital media trends, on his personal blog, "Assignment: Future" (http://assignmentfuture.com).

Asia
3:58 am
Tue October 23, 2012

Malala Isn't Alone: Another Pakistani Girl's Dream

Credit AFP / Getty Images
Pakistani security personnel stand guard in front of a burnt-out school following an attack by the Pakistani Taliban in the northwestern district of Upper Dir in June 2011. The Taliban have destroyed many schools in northwestern Pakistan.

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 7:18 pm

Stop someone in the street. Ask them about the case of Malala Yousafzai. They will likely know — after the worldwide publicity given to her story — that Malala is the Pakistani teenager who was shot for demanding the right of girls to go to school.

They will surely know, too, that the people who shot Malala in the head from close range were the Pakistani Taliban. They will probably view Malala as the heroine she clearly is. And the Taliban will be seen as the violent fanatics that they surely are.

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Books News & Features
3:38 am
Tue October 23, 2012

America's Facebook Generation Is Reading Strong

Credit iStockphoto.com
Pew's study found that 60 percent of Americans under 30 used the library in the past year.

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 4:53 am

In what may come as a pleasant surprise to people who fear the Facebook generation has given up on reading — or, at least, reading anything longer than 140 characters — a new report from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project reveals the prominent role of books, libraries and technology in the lives of young readers, ages 16 to 29. Kathryn Zickuhr, the study's main author, joins NPR's David Greene to discuss the results.

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