A CBS News personality is starting his own media company – but keeping his day job

Mon, 23 Feb 2026

David Begnaud is launching an independent media company using the beehiiv platform while remaining a contributor at the network

As media jobs disappear and the industry shifts even further to a focus on individual personalities, rather than global brands, many journalists are choosing to leave stable jobs and strike out on their own by starting paid newsletters on platforms such as Substack and beehiiv.

Two prominent television news personalities, the CNN anchor Jim Acosta and ABC News correspondent Terry Moran, both struck out on their own last year. But Wendy McMahon, a veteran television executive who most recently served as president of CBS News before dramatically resigning in May 2025, doesn’t think that TV journalists need to leave their network jobs to be able to start branching out on their own.