Life After News
What happens when the newsroom lights go out—and life begins again?
Life After News explores the raw, funny, and deeply human stories of journalists who’ve 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. It’s not just about leaving the news—it’s about discovering what comes after.
Whether you’re 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
🎙️ From Global Newsrooms to Local Impact with Julie Makinen
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Guest: Julie Makinen (journalist, editor, newsroom leader, and local news advocate)
Julie Makinen has done the rare thing in journalism: she’s worked at the highest levels of national and international newsrooms and chosen to bring that experience home to local journalism in the Coachella Valley. In this episode, Julie walks through her unexpected path from Stanford human biology major (med school was the plan… until it wasn’t) to a career that took her from the Washington Post to the LA Times, the New York Times ecosystem, and reporting/editing roles across Hong Kong and Beijing before leading The Desert Sun newsroom in Palm Springs.
Jason and Julie also dig into the big question: how local journalism survives now and what philanthropy, community support, and organizations like the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation can realistically do to keep reporting alive. CVJF’s mission includes celebrating journalists, funding more reporting, and connecting the public to the work.
In this episode
- How a Stanford biology major became a lifelong journalist
- The internship moment that changed everything (Washington Post “big league” initiation)
- Why foreign correspondence is exhilarating and clarifying
- What it’s like running a newsroom covering a massive desert region with limited staff
- The uncomfortable truth about philanthropy supporting for-profit newsrooms
- Why “going nonprofit” isn’t a magic fix
- The business mistake that trained audiences to expect “free” news
- Why great journalism takes teams (not just solo newsletters and podcasts)
- The mission and future of the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation
Mentioned in the conversation
Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation (CVJF)
- CVJF’s mission: promote and support sustainable community journalism in the Coachella Valley.
- CVJF’s Hall of Fame honors media professionals and supports the future of local reporting.
Hall of Fame keynote: Tonya Mosley
Tonya Mosley co-hosts Fresh Air alongside Terry Gross.
Call to action
If you care about local reporting—city halls, schools, public safety, water, development, the stories that shape daily life—support the people doing the work.
- Learn more, donate, and get on the CVJF mailing list: https://cvjf.org/
- Check the Hall of Fame page for the latest event details and tickets https://cvjf.org/cvjf-hall-of-fame/
And wherever you live: find a local journalism support org, subscribe to a local outlet you trust, and show up. Local news doesn’t survive on applause.
Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.