What if that pivotal moment was just the beginning?

David Bernknopf

David Bernknopf Profile Photo

David S. Bernknopf is a veteran journalist and television news producer who spent more than two decades at CNN, where he rose to executive director of news planning. After leaving CNN, he continued his investigative journalism career in Washington, D.C., before accepting an unexpected job running the only investigative news unit in the state of Alaska. That two-year experience became the basis for his debut novel, Two Years on Another Planet, a fictionalized account of life, loneliness, and reinvention in the last frontier. He now lives in Colorado, consulting on documentaries.

261
July 1, 2026

Identity: The Job That Wasn't the Whole Story

David S. Bernknopf left CNN after 20 years, moved to Alaska on a cold call, and wrote his first novel at 68. A story about identity, loneliness, and what your kids know that you don't.