Megan Sayles is a business reporter for The Baltimore Afro-American paper. Before this, Sayles interned with Baltimore Magazine, where she wrote feature stories about the city’s residents, nonprofits and initiatives. Her love of music inspired her to be a writer. At a young age she realized it was not the melody that she was so infatuated with, but the lyrics that made up the song and connected with listeners. Sayles grew up in Pasadena, Maryland, and is a 2021 graduate of the University of Maryland, where for her senior capstone project she reported on how the coronavirus and inequality intersected in Baltimore. She also worked as a staff writer and copy editor for campus publications, including Stories Beneath the Shell and The Black Explosion. Sayles teamed up with a partner to report on how the pandemic had put many more responsibilities on the oldest child in families. The Associated Press and other news organizations picked up her story.
Beat: Business news affecting Baltimore's African-American community
Following Baltimore's Black-owned businesses and Black entrepreneurs are part of the responsibilities of this beat. There are nearly 51,000 businesses in Baltimore, 63,408 in the District of Columbia and 77,204 in Prince George's County, Md. More than half of the businesses in each of these places is owned by people of color. The reporter on this beat also keeps tabs on African-Americans in high-profile positions at local companies as well as news stemming from Morgan State University's School of Business.