🎙️ Rewriting the Script: Michaela Pereira on News, Grief, and Growth

📝 Show Notes

Episode Summary
In this deeply personal episode, Michaela Pereira joins Jason to reflect on her transformative journey through the world of broadcast journalism. From a serendipitous start in media to major roles at KTLA, CNN, HLN and Good Day LA, Michaela’s path has been defined by curiosity, connection, and reinvention.

She opens up about the emotional toll of covering difficult stories, and the leap to national television with CNN’s New Day and later her own show on HLN. Michaela shares why she eventually stepped away from traditional news, and how she found healing and.

Together, Michaela and Jason explore mental health, grief, and the urgent need for emotional support in newsrooms and reflect on the enduring power of storytelling, community, and saying yes to life’s next chapter.

📌 Key Takeaways

• Michaela’s career began with an unexpected opportunity—but it clicked.
• Transitioning from Canada to the U.S. came with cultural and professional adjustments.
• At KTLA, she found her footing and a loyal audience.
• Her move to CNN’s New Day and later HLN marked a major step into national media.
• HLN allowed her to anchor her own show, shaping a more personal, conversational format.
• National news brought new challenges: pressure, pace, and public scrutiny.
• The emotional toll of tragedy-focused coverage led her to reimagine her role.
• Her shift to Good Day LA was a return to joy and meaningful connection with viewers.
• Michaela emphasizes the need for mental health support in journalism—grief counseling included.
• She believes in the quiet power of nurturing creativity and embracing reinvention.
• Personal relationships are central to her growth and her compass for decisions.
• The media landscape is changing—flexibility and intention are essential.
• Every conversation, every interaction matters. Nothing is too small to celebrate.

🧭 Chapters

1. Intro & Groundwork
2. Michaela's Accidental Entry Into Broadcasting
3. Tech TV and the KTLA Years
4. Cultural Shift: From San Francisco to L.A.
5. Jumping to CNN’s New Day & HLN’s Personal Format
6. The Toll of National News and High-Stakes Coverage
7. Reconnecting with Joy: Good Day LA
8. Mental Health, Grief, and the Weight of the News
9. Reinvention and the Creative Muscle
10. The Importance of Saying Yes and Staying Connected
11. Final Reflections: Presence, Purpose, and Possibility

📱 You can connect with Michaela on Instagram: @michaelapereira

🔜 Next on Life After News
Up next, Jason sits down with Tamsen Fadal, Emmy-winning journalist turned women's health advocate. In a candid and powerful conversation, Tamsen opens up about her personal journey through menopause and why she’s using her voice to break taboos and educate others. From hormone therapy challenges to the importance of community and storytelling, this is an episode every woman—and the people who love them—needs to hear. 🌿💬

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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.