Ariel Van Cleave

Ariel Van Cleave is WBEZ’s Managing Editor for Audio News. She has experience as a reporter, producer and host. Ariel had her first brush with public radio while working at WCBU as a student at Bradley University. After graduating, she moved to Springfield to work as a statehouse reporter for the Illinois Radio Network while earning her master’s in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Ariel is a native Illinoisan and stuck closer to home for her first job at WBAA in West Lafayette, Indiana. But she’s worked in far-flung places, such as KDLG in Dillingham, Alaska. Ariel is also the founder and executive director of HostCon Fund, a nonprofit organization focused on providing training for hosts/anchors and producers from across the NPR member station system.