Ariel Ritchin
Ariel Ritchin (2022) is a multimedia journalist and independent filmmaker based in Berkeley, California. His audio and video work has appeared on NBC, PBS and WNYC, among others. For the past decade, Ariel has worked in various roles at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a project of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism encouraging innovative reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy worldwide. As the Dart Center’s senior producer, he directs all editorial content, leads strategic and digital initiatives and manages specialized programs, workshops and trainings for reporters all over the world. Ariel is a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow and a Posse Foundation Scholar. He holds an M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. from Middlebury College.
While a fellow at the Logan Nonfiction Program, Ariel will work on a film focusing on Rensselaer County, N.Y., where the chemical PFOA, used by local manufacturers for decades, has contaminated the drinking water of two neighboring towns. Despite being linked to several types of cancer, thyroid disease, preeclampsia and colitis, an estimated 200 million Americans are currently being exposed to PFOA and its sister chemical PFOS in their drinking water.