Ruwitch named NPR tech correspondent

In a note to newsroom staff, chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi made the following announcement:

Hi all,

We are thrilled to announce that John Ruwitch will be joining the Business Desk as a tech correspondent. In this role, John will cover one of the most dynamic and influential industries of our times, with a focus on how the tech industry shapes our lives and society. He will help tell stories that showcase the industry’s massive fortunes and the big egos that come with it, and put a spotlight on the hopes, aspirations and plight of rank-and-file employees, gig workers and users.

John has been with NPR covering China since 2020. During his time here, he has chronicled the tectonic shift in America’s relations with China and reported on a wide range of other issues, including elite politics, China’s post-Covid economic woes, trade, social change, the arts, and demographics.

His work with producer Aowen Cao was recognized with a 2024 Edward R. Murrow Award (feature reporting) for a piece about a piano player reflecting on loss and sorrow in the wake of the pandemic through public performances.

Prior to joining NPR, John spent more than 19 years with Reuters, where he was posted in Shanghai, Hong Kong/Guangzhou, Hanoi and Beijing in various roles as bureau chief and correspondent. During his time there, he reported on labor disputes, corruption, human rights, currency devaluations, earthquakes, snowstorms, Olympic badminton and everything in between.

John speaks Mandarin and Vietnamese. He studied history at U.C. Santa Cruz and got a master’s in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard.

In the role, John will work closely with senior business editor Kara Platoni. He will be stationed in San Francisco, the city at the heart of Silicon Valley.

Related to this, Bobby Allyn, who covered tech since 2020, has been working with the government restructuring team reporting on Elon Musk and the power of the tech industry in reshaping government. In the past few months, he’s broken news about an abortive State Department effort to buy Tesla cyber trucks, and along with Emily Feng reported on Nvidia CEO’s personal appeal to President Trump to get an exemption to sell advanced AI chips to China. Bobby will continue working on this beat and join the Power and Influence team under Brett Neely.