Why David Begnaud Stepped Back From ‘CBS Mornings’: ‘My Soul Felt Depleted’
What To Know
- David Begnaud opened up about why he chose to step back from his role as CBS Mornings‘ national correspondent.
- Begnaud explained how covering tragic news stories led to the creation of his new media company, Do Good Crew.
- Begnaud addressed his future on CBS Mornings as he turns his focus to his new business venture.
Though David Begnaud has stepped away from his role as CBS Mornings‘ national correspondent, he’s hard at work creating a new business venture.
Begnaud recently launched his new media company, Do Good Crew, which highlights positive news stories. In an interview with People published on Tuesday, February 24, Begnaud explained that his inspiration for the company came from spending years reporting on numerous tragedies.
“I’ve covered more massacres and mass shootings and knocked on more doors of mothers who had their children killed at school than I can remember,” he told the outlet. “I’ve covered earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes, volcanoes. When I went to cover [Hurricane Maria] in Puerto Rico in 2017, it both catapulted my career and it also just sort of made it certain that it was time for something else.”
He added, “My soul felt depleted. I felt like I had nothing to give.”
Begnaud went on to note that Do Good Crew is centered around “storytelling and celebrating people who are doing good and thereby activating other people to do good.”
In addition to a newsletter, social channels, and upcoming live events, the company also launched The Person Who Believed In Me With David Begnaud podcast. The podcast’s debut episode — which dropped on Monday, February 23 — features guest Oprah Winfrey. Other upcoming guests include Nick Cannon, Charlie Puth, 2 Chainz, and more.
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“When you celebrate the person who believed in you, it’s an act of gratitude, which is itself an act of doing good,” Begnaud said of the podcast. “When you sign up for the newsletter and start reading stories of these extraordinary people, we include calls to action, so not only do we tell you about people who are doing good, but readers can do something about it, too.”
While Do Good Crew has become Begnaud’s main focus, he will continue to make appearances on CBS Mornings for his weekly “Beg-Knows America” segments on Mondays.
“In a way, Do Good is a return to where it all began. Yes,” he told the outlet. “I became the lead national correspondent for CBS, which was bigger than I had dreamed for myself. But I always loved finding gems in the middle of the stories. I thought, could I use the same algorithm that amplifies the hate and all the bad news to amplify the good?”
He continued, “The truth is, I’m also doing it because my soul needs it. It’s soul-replenishing. So I’m trying to do that for other people, too, to activate the good in people through storytelling. I’ve never felt more fulfilled spending more time working towards making something a success.”
Begnaud’s new project comes amid shakeups at CBS News under the new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, including the promotion of Tony Dokoupil as the new anchor of CBS Evening News. Gayle King reportedly defended Weiss in a meeting with network staffers last month, per The Independent, stating, “If you don’t want to be here, if this is not the place, it’s OK. But for the rest of us who would like to be here, who’d like to do a good job and figure things out along the way, this is a very bumpy time for all of us.”
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