By Paul Greeley
817-578-6324, Paul@NewsBlues.com

David Begnaud has been a TV news reporter in Lafayette and Shreveport, Louisiana, and Sacramento. He’s been a reporter and correspondent for CBS News in Los Angeles and New York.

So in this episode of Life After News, it’s Begnaud who’s asking the questions, switching seats with host Jason Ball to ask Ball the questions.

Ball has nearly 35 years’ experience in local TV news as a producer, executive producer, podcaster and news director at stations in Memphis, Miami and Los Angeles.

Ball’s podcasts are titled Life After News: New chapters. Bold moves. Real stories.

This week on Life After News, Begnaud wants to know why Ball left news. What were you chasing—or escaping? Who are you without the title?

• And Ball opens up about why the January 6th insurrection was the breaking point.
• The stress he didn’t even know he was carrying (until the heartburn disappeared).
• Reclaiming purpose through storytelling on his own terms—with a podcast, a newsletter, and a hotel.
• Coming out, being private in a public career, and what he hopes to share about long-term love
• Running a bar, fixing toilets, and using breaking news skills in small business
• Why he talks to AI every day—and what newsrooms should be doing about it now.

With honesty, reflection, and a dose of unexpected vulnerability, Ball shows that Life After News isn’t just a concept—it’s a lived experience.

This is an episode about identity, reinvention, and what it means to finally put yourself in the story.

“If I’m not the news director at KTLA, who am I,” Ball says. “Turns out, I’m still me. Maybe even more me.”

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