(b.1943 in Poland) came to Sweden in 1945 by the Bernadotte Aid. He studied philosophy, English, and political science at Gothenburg University and journalism at the University of South Florida. He worked at several dailies and at the Swedish Radio and Television Corporation until, in 1982, he became editor-in-chief for culture at Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's largest morning daily. He left his position in 1998, voicing sharp criticism of monopoly tendencies involving the parent company. During Ruth's final period in office, reports in Dagens Nyheter about forced sterilization and the Nazi gold question influenced the Swedish government to set up special investigative commissions.

As an essayist, Arne Ruth has contributed to journals in Scandinavia, the German-speaking countries, France, and the United States, focusing on aspects of European culture and politics. Among his most noted achievements as an author is a book on the arts under fascism: Staging Society: Aesthetics and Politics in the Third Reich (co-authored with Ingemar Karlsson). Arne Ruth is, among other commitments, on the board of the Swedish Helsinki Committe, the Swedish chapter of Reporters Sans Frontiers, and the Ship to Bosnia project for the establishment of a Cultural Centre for Reconciliation in Lipnica, Bosnia. He is also member of the Eurozine advisory board.