John Ryan
Reporter
About
Environment reporter John Ryan welcomes tips, documents and feedback from listeners. Reach him at jryan@kuow.org or for secure, confidential communication: he's at 1-401-405-1206 on the Signal messaging app or heyjohnryan@protonmail.com.
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.
Two decades later, he has freelanced for most of the major public radio news shows as well as newspapers and magazines and covered transportation at the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. He’s been a reporter at NPR stations in southeast and southwest Alaska (KTOO-Juneau and KUCB-Unalaska) as well as Seattle. He became KUOW’s first full-time investigative reporter in 2009 and one of the first shop stewards for KUOW’s SAG-AFTRA newsroom union, as well as KUOW’s full-time environment reporter, in 2018.
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, national Edward R. Murrow and PMJA/PRNDI awards for coverage of breaking news and a Society of Environmental Journalists award for in-depth reporting.
He believes democracy only works when journalism holds the powerful accountable for their words and actions.
Stories
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KUOW Newsroom
Ship that spilled 40 containers off Olympic Peninsula catches fire. Spills 2 more
“You have been advised to evacuate the entire vessel,” a coast guard official radioed the captain. “All crew members and captain included. Over.” “Negative, sir,” the captain replied from the burning ship.
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KUOW Newsroom
Cargo ship spills 40 shipping containers off Washington’s Olympic Peninsula
A cargo ship heading from South Korea to Canada hit rough seas and spilled about 40 shipping containers off the Olympic Peninsula Friday morning.
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KUOW Newsroom
Worried about the air in your packed light rail car? Don't, Sound Transit says
Traffic in Washington is once again about as bad as it was before Covid-19 kept many people off the roads. And as more people head back to the office, some are switching up their commute and choosing to travel by light rail. Sound Transit says if you're worried about safety in a crowded rail car during a pandemic, you shouldn't be.
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KUOW Newsroom
Heat-loving bacteria kills thousands of Washington salmon
An estimated 2,500 Chinook salmon died before they could reach their spawning grounds in Whatcom County in September.
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State attorneys sue to stop postal service from slowing the mail
Attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia have filed a legal challenge to stop the U.S. Postal Service from slowing down the mail.
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KUOW Newsroom
Microsoft: We’re on track to stop polluting this decade. Then we’ll undo all the climate harm we’ve ever done
The tech giant says, by 2025, its operations will use only clean energy.
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Beluga whale sighted off Seattle, Tacoma waterfronts
A white whale has been spotted swimming along the Seattle and Tacoma waterfronts. Call it Moby Duwamish.
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Navy steams ahead with sonar tests despite state opposition, orca impacts
Over the objections of Washington state officials and orca advocates, the U.S. Navy is steaming ahead with a plan for seven more years of testing sonar and explosives off the Northwest coast.
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The Northwest’s unhealthy new season: smoke
When Kelsey Horne finished college in Tacoma ten years ago, the climate was different. “Fire season wasn't a thing,” she said.
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Makah Tribe takes big step toward resuming gray whale hunt
The Makah Tribe has gained a victory from a federal judge in its 16-year-quest to resume hunting gray whales.
