Megan Burbank | Writer & Editor

Hi! I’m Megan.

I’m a writer and editor with 10 years of experience in media, from scrappy, convivial alternative newsweeklies to the fluorescent lighting and story-chasing adrenaline of a legacy daily. I grew up in the Northwest reading both, and have worked for The Stranger, the Portland Mercury, and The Seattle Times.

I specialize in enterprise reporting on reproductive health policy, and I love telling stories at the nexus of gender, culture, and politics. This might take the form of reporting on how people access abortion care despite restrictions and economic burdens, or a reported essay on what Britney Spears’ trajectory tells us about American misogyny, celebrity, and mental health. Regardless of subject matter, I believe that approaching journalism through a lens of equity isn’t a sign of bias but responsible reporting.

I took a break from journalism in 2011 to get an M.F.A. in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My thesis, on the life and work of Surrealist photographer Lee Miller, put culture writing in rotation with my reporting. Still, I didn’t make it even a year post-graduation before I was back in a newsroom.

Since then, I’ve worked early-morning editing shifts, waking up before the sun to wrangle breaking news and drive homepage traffic. I’ve overseen production on an entire newspaper employing only nonbinary and women contributors. I’ve covered everything from Oregon’s rape kit backlog and trauma-informed policing alternatives to a transgender choreographer disrupting old, busted norms in the dance world. In addition to journalism, I provide branded content, copy-writing, social media strategy, copy-editing, developmental editing, and fact-checking services.

I live in Seattle with a smooshy-faced cat named Luna. When I’m not on deadline, you can find me co-writing a Substack newsletter about Gilmore Girls, going on long runs, or at the barre in ballet class.