Life After News
What happens when the newsroom lights go outâand life begins again?
Life After News explores the raw, funny, and deeply human stories of journalists whoâve walked away from the adrenaline of breaking news to reinvent themselves in surprising ways. Hosted by former TV news director Jason Ball, the podcast goes behind the headlines to talk with anchors, reporters, producers, and executives about identity, resilience, and what it takes to start over.
From career pivots to personal awakenings, these conversations reveal how the skills learned under deadline pressure translate into entirely new chapters of life. Itâs not just about leaving the newsâitâs about discovering what comes after.
Whether youâre in media, on the edge of a career change, or just fascinated by reinvention, Life After News is your invitation to listen in, learn, and maybe imagine your own next chapter.
Life After News
đïž When to Chase the Dream and When to Walk Away: LibertĂ© Chanâs Life After News
Meteorologist Liberté Chan joins Jason for a raw, vulnerable, and very real conversation about knowing when to chase the dream and when to walk away from it.
From her early days as an intern at KTLA to anchoring in Palm Springs, to âmanifestingâ her way back on-air in Los Angeles, LibertĂ© shares how sheer persistence (and a few strategically timed visits to the news directorâs office) helped her land her dream job as a meteorologist on the KTLA Weekend Morning News.
She opens up about the work behind the âweather girlâ stereotype earning a meteorology degree while working full time, using education as a way to build confidence, and what it really takes to reinvent yourself on and off camera.
Liberté also talks candidly about the devastating loss of her friend and co-anchor Chris Burrous, the cascade of grief that followed in her personal life, and how unprocessed grief finally forced her to stop, feel, and re-evaluate everything including her career in news.
Today, sheâs a new mom, a functional medicine health coach, a devoted yogi, and a creator in the ânew mediaâ world, blending wellness, motherhood, and honest storytelling while still keeping one toe in the news business as an occasional KTLA fill-in.
This is a conversation about ambition, heartbreak, reinvention, and the courage to choose yourself.
In this episode, we talk about:
- đŻ Manifesting the dream job
- đ Education as confidence
- đș The magic of the KTLA weekend morning show
- đ Grief, loss, and what news people donât process
- đ§ Knowing when to walk away from news
- đ§ââïž Wellness, functional medicine, and new media
- đ¶ Motherhood, travel, and raising a healthy child
- đȘ Movement as practice, not perfection
- đ± Whatâs next for LibertĂ©
NEXT WEEK ON LIFE AFTER NEWS
Veteran KCBS/KCAL investigative reporter David Goldstein returnsâtwo years into retirementâto talk about what heâs doing now and why Harvey Levin says Los Angeles is less safe without him.
We dig into:
- how investigative journalism actually changes the world,
- the grind behind the glamour,
- why the job is harder than people think, and
- how he got his unlikely start in the poultry capital of the world.
Donât miss it.
If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend. And if youâre enjoying the show, please rate and reviewâit truly helps more people find these conversations.
Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesnât mean the storyâs overâit means a new oneâs just beginning.