Ryan Blethen

Ryan Blethen joined The Seattle Times full time in 1997. His career has been primarily as a journalist. Early in the digital transformation, he oversaw The Seattle Times’ digital news operation. Blethen holds the position of Associate Publisher of The Seattle Times and serves as Secretary of the Blethen Corporation.

Blethen was The Seattle Times’ Editorial Page Editor from 2009 to 2011, specializing in writing columns about the free press. A fifth-generation member of the Blethen family, he worked as a reporter or editor at newspapers in Yakima, Spokane and Portland, Maine. Ryan is a graduate of Washington State University and attended journalism school at the University of Kansas where he serves on the Advisory Committee and is a Trustee of the school’s foundation.

Blethen is currently focused on reporting as The Seattle Times’ health writer, a beat made particularly demanding by the COVID-19 pandemic.