CBS Correspondent David Begnaud Burned Out After Covering Tragedies. Inside His 'Soul-Replenishing' New Venture (Exclusive)

Gillian TellingTue, February 24, 2026 at 2:58 PM UTC

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David Begnaud, the former lead national correspondent for CBS Morning

Cameron Theyard

CBS Mornings correspondent David Begnaud launched a new media company focused on positive human interest stories

He says the move came after he was burned out from covering mass shootings and natural disasters for 20 years

The new company features a podcast, a newsletter and social components that also deliver calls to action, so the audience can help make a difference

CBS Mornings national correspondent David Begnaud has launched a new media company called Do Good Crew, which focuses on positive human interest stories. The impetus? Experiencing burnout from his 20 years of covering 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," Begnaud, 42, explains to PEOPLE of the new venture, which launched on Monday, Feb. 23.

"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 continues.

He says it became painful to report on tragedies but not be able to change things: "My soul felt depleted. I felt like I had nothing to give."

The new company, he says, was inspired by all the people he met in the field who were doing positive things amidst "the mayhem."

"Do Good Crew is a media company built around storytelling and celebrating people who are doing good and thereby activating other people to do good," he says. "At the heart of it is our 'The Person who Believed in Me With David Begnaud' podcast, because when you celebrate the person who believed in you, it's an act of gratitude, which is itself an act of doing good."

David Begnaud and Oprah on 'The Person Who Believed in Me' Podcast

The Person Who Believed in Me with David Begnaud

His first guest on the show is Oprah Winfrey, who will be followed by people including Barry Diller, Charlie Puth, and tech and film industry CEOs. The Do Good Crew also has a newsletter and social components, with plans for live events in the coming year.

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"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."

Begnaud isn't totally stepping away from his CBS duties. "I'm still doing my Beg-Knows America segment each Monday for CBS Mornings," he says.

"But in a way, Do Good is a return to where it all began. Yes. 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?"

In the 50th installment of “Beg-Knows America,” CBS News contributor David Begnaud revisits his first report on 11-year-old Quentin Hines Jr. in Charlotte, North Carolina,

CBS News

He recalls a story he did on a 19-year-old who helped rescue a couple after their car spun out and began smoking on an interstate in Texas.

"I told him, 'You have the heart of a first responder,'" Begaud says. When the teen said he'd always wanted to do something like that but couldn't afford it, Begnaud made some calls. Eventually, the head of one of the privately owned ambulance companies in America offered the line cook a full ride to become an EMT.

"Celebrating people who are doing good? There's no better way to spend your day," Begnaud says.

He adds, "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."

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”