Melissa Block Reports from the Scene of the Chengdau Earthquake

In the years to come, I think Melissa Block’s reporting from the Chengdu earthquake will become a defining moment in her career. She and Robert Siegel were in China working on an unrelated series for NPR’s All Things Considered when the earthquake struck. Block’s initial report on All Things Considered is some of the most compelling radio I have ever heard. It’s not just a matter of being on the scene as it happened. It’s not just a matter of capturing amazing sound. What makes this so striking and so memorable is the human face Block puts on the story from her amazement and wonder at the event to the horror of the scene of a collapsed middle school. I cannot imagine how difficult this report was to file and I am really in awe of the skill and grace she brought to this work.