John Ryan
Reporter
About
Environment reporter John Ryan welcomes tips, documents and feedback from listeners. For secure, confidential communication: he's at 1-401-405-1206 on the Signal messaging app, you can use KUOW’s SecureDrop portal, or you can send snail mail (but don't put your return address on the outside!) to John Ryan, KUOW, 4518 Univ. Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105.
Good thing John was a clumsy traveler.
Otherwise his cheap microcassette recorder wouldn't have fallen out of his pocket in an Indonesian taxi, a generous BBC stringer wouldn't have lent him some recording gear, and he wouldn't have gotten the radio bug. But after pointing a mic at rare jungle songbirds and gong-playing grandmothers for his first radio story, there was no turning back.
He spent several years freelancing for most of the major public radio news shows (as well as newspapers including Christian Science Monitor and Los Angeles Times). John also did an award-winning documentary for KUOW on the side from a day gig covering transportation at the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
In 2009, John moved back to Seattle to become KUOW’s first investigative reporter after two exciting years covering avalanches, political intrigue and just about everything in between for KTOO, the NPR station in Alaska's capital city. He returned to Alaska for a 4-month stint in the Aleutian Islands in 2015 and won awards for KUOW and KUCB-Unalaska for his coverage of Arctic oil drilling from two states.
John’s stories have won multiple national awards for KUOW, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi awards for Public Service in Radio Journalism and for Investigative Reporting and national Edward R. Murrow and PRNDI awards for coverage of breaking news.
John is a shop steward of KUOW’s SAG-AFTRA newsroom union.
He believes democracy only works when journalism holds the powerful accountable for their words and actions.
Stories
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KUOW Newsroom
Where are the orcas? Not in the Salish Sea, where there's no food this summer
For the second year in a row, the region's endangered orcas have been missing from their key habitat around the San Juan Islands for months at a time.
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KUOW Newsroom
Amazon pucks convention, names Seattle hockey hall 'Climate Pledge Arena'
Amazon has purchased the rights to Seattle’s new hockey and basketball arena, but it’s not naming the building after itself. The Amazon-sponsored venue will be called Climate Pledge Arena.
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KUOW Newsroom
King County is moving hundreds of employees to permanent work-from-home status
Many people working from home wonder when they’ll be able sit next to their coworkers again. For about 800 King County employees, the answer is never.
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KUOW Newsroom
A spike in coronavirus cases as Seattle and King County enter Phase 2
Seattle and King County are moving into Phase 2 of the pandemic reopening plan today, Friday, despite a new uptick in cases. Sixty-two new cases were tracked in the county on Thursday – half of those from Seattle.
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Seattle fishing firm skimps on quarantine. Covid-19 outbreaks hit 110 crew members
A Seattle seafood company has had Covid-19 outbreaks on three of its six factory trawlers. Pandemic safety measures for the fishing industry are largely voluntary in Washington state, and not all companies follow them.
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KUOW Newsroom
The scramble to help Chinook salmon past landslide danger zone
One of the most important food sources for the Northwest’s endangered orcas was devastated by a rockslide.
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KUOW Newsroom
Replacing West Seattle Bridge expected to take half a decade
If the badly cracked bridge can’t be fixed, transportation officials say it would take at least four to six years to replace.
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KUOW Newsroom
Quit the tear gas, doctors tell cops. It might exacerbate the pandemic
Using tear gas or other chemical irritants can worsen the risk of Covid-19 spreading through a crowd, according to a petition signed by more than 2,000 health professionals.
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KUOW Newsroom
Traffic congestion returns to Seattle area
As more people get out from their homes and behind the wheel, traffic volumes are bouncing back in the Seattle area. That means the nemesis of the Seattle commuter is returning as well. Congestion.
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KUOW Newsroom
Novel virus could spread rapidly among orcas
Some Northwest residents don’t do social distancing well, which leaves them especially vulnerable to an outbreak of a highly contagious respiratory virus. These residents are orcas.