David Begnaud (born June 13, 1983) is an American journalist and news correspondent. Begnaud works for CBS News, and is currently based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

as the Lead National Correspondent for CBS Mornings. His reporting has been featured across CBS News broadcasts and platforms including ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...

'', the ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature st ...

'', '' 48 Hours'', ''

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'', as well as CBS News Streaming, CBS News' 24/7 streaming news service.

Early life and education

Begnaud is from

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

.He is said to be a

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

NPR article
He went to Catholic school and was an

altar boy An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up the book ...

and Eucharistic minister. He started his career as a journalist after high school by working as a reporter for KLFY TV 10 in Lafayette, LA. Begnaud received a bachelor's degree in general studies from the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

in 2005.

Career

Begnaud worked at

KSLA KSLA (channel 12) is a television station in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate KTSH-CD (channel 19). The two stations share studios on Fai ...

in Shreveport Louisiana from 2005 to 2007. Begnaud worked for Newsbreaker at

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, based out of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, CA. Prior to that on he worked at KTLA in Los Angeles from 2010 to 2012 and

KOVR KOVR (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Stockton, California, United States, broadcasting the CBS network to the Sacramento area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate ...

in Sacramento from 2007 to 2010. He joined CBS News in August 2015 as a Miami-based correspondent and was relocated to the network's Dallas bureau in January 2017. In September 2017, Begnaud was sent to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

by CBS News to report on

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

and remained there for

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

. From various locations in Puerto Rico, Begnaud filed multiple reports of conditions on the ground that were broadcast through CBS News. In addition, Begnaud reported through his own various social media accounts. His social media accounts have been hailed for helping keep followers in the mainland US informed about the conditions in Puerto Rico. After his time in Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria, Begnaud continued to file reports through CBS news, or his own social media accounts, on topics related to Puerto Rico and the Hurricane Maria recovery. CBS news also continued to send Begnaud to various locations, including additional trips to Puerto Rico, to report on other breaking stories such as a mistreated children's case in California, wildfires in California, and undocumented immigrant children separations. In July 2019, Begnaud was back in Puerto Rico reporting on the Puerto Rico protests, and the resignation of then governor

Ricardo Rossello Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...

and was received warmly by the Puerto Ricans on the island, who see him as their

ally An ally is a member of an alliance. Ally may also refer to: Place names * Ally, Cantal, a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France * Ally, County Tyrone, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Ally, Haute-Loire, a commun ...

Personal life

Begnaud resides in Manhattan. In 2018, Begnaud reported to ''

Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the ''Philadelphi ...

'' that he and his partner, Jeremy, of Los Angeles had been together for almost 7 years. He also stated that he had come out to his family 10 years earlier. Begnaud came out publicly on June 24, 2018, by posting a picture with his partner after seeing pride celebrations in New York City. Begnaud was diagnosed with

Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...

at age 6. In December 2018, he revealed this fact publicly; he said his parents never allowed him to use it as an excuse for not succeeding, and that Tourette's was one of the primary motivators for him to persevere and succeed in journalism. His

tics A tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups.American Psychiatric Association (2000)DSM-IV-TR: Tourette's Disorder.''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', 4th ed., ...

, which are mainly nonvocal, include sniffing.

Awards and honors

In February 2018, Begnaud was awarded the George Polk journalism award for public service for his work reporting on Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria. He was also designated a "Puerto Rican Champion" and participated in the 2018

Puerto Rican Day Parade The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) takes place annually in the United States along Fifth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The parade is held on the second Sunday in June, in hon ...

. Begnaud is an honorary Puerto Rican highly esteemed by the people of Puerto Rico.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Begnaud, David 21st-century American journalists American television reporters and correspondents CBS News people American LGBT journalists American gay writers LGBT people from Louisiana Journalists from Louisiana George Polk Award recipients University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni People with Tourette syndrome Living people 1983 births 21st-century LGBT people