An Exclusive Interview With Beth McDonough

Beth McDonough was a tenacious, resourceful, and seasoned television crime and public safety reporter.  With a sparkle in her eye, an inviting smile, engaging personality, All-American good looks and a friendly demeanor, she was a paradox.  Beth thrived on uncovering scandals, breaking news stories and holding those in power accountable. Her TV news job covering other people’s lives was everything to her until Beth was ultimately forced to dig deep and confront perhaps the darkest story of all, hers. Two DUIs completely ruined her life, and now she is speaking out on her recovery and 16 years of sobriety. 

Her journalism career began in the small town of Joplin, Missouri.   She moved (a lot) and worked her way up from a rookie reporter and anchor into major markets like Oklahoma City, Houston, Philadelphia, New York and Minneapolis. During her broadcasting career, she worked for some of the biggest network owned affiliates and handled live reports for MSNBC, CNBC, CNN & ABC.  FOX News in Minneapolis came calling and back to the Midwest she went.  Beth rounded out her investigative reporting career at a top-notch news station: KSTP-TV in St. Paul.

She earned several Emmy's for breaking news and was part of the KSTP-TV team awarded the DuPont Columbia Award, the highest standard of journalism, for coverage of the officer involved death of George Floyd in May 2020 and the racial reckoning riots that erupted immediately afterward in Minneapolis/St. Paul and spread throughout the country.   Beth also covered 9/11, broke the story of Prince's drug overdose death, reported for hours on end during the 35W bridge collapse, was the first to report Jayme Closs' escape from her kidnapper, the same person who murdered her parents 3 months prior, and was featured in a Lifetime documentary with a champion herself, Elizabeth Smart, focused on other survivors of abduction and sexual assault throughout the United States. 

Beth lives with her two rescue wiener dogs amid the red rock mountains in the sunny paradise of SW Utah in the middle of five national parks. She enjoys hiking, yoga, reading, writing, traveling to new places and taking in different cultures.  After running hard in the fast lane of the news life, she found her place and peace in the desert. Her memoir, Standby, is set to release in the Summer of 2025.

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Tell us a bit about your background and career.

I was born in Los Angeles and lived the typical “Cali” lifestyle, hanging out on sunny beaches and playing at Knott’s Berry Farm Amusement Park. Then we moved to Oklahoma to experience a different taste of Americana. My family stayed in OK, but after college I had my sights set on bright lights and bigger cities.

My journalism career started in the small town of Joplin, Missouri. Then I worked my way up the ladder to Lubbock, Tyler and Houston, Texas. Those experiences led to reporting jobs in Philadelphia, where I also frequently handled live reports for MSNBC, CNBC & CNN. FOX News in Minneapolis came calling and back to the Midwest I went. I rounded out my investigative reporting career at KSTP-TV in St. Paul.

Was journalism always a passion of yours?

The short answer is “yes.” I was 12 years old when I discovered what I wanted to be when I grew up. The epiphany happened during a 6th grade classroom assignment in Yukon, Oklahoma. A local news anchor from the CBS station came to speak on career day. She was polished, smart and affable and I wanted to emulate her, but on a much broader stage. I wanted to go network one day.

Tell us about your upcoming book.

On its cover, the book could seem like a memoir, but it’s so much more than that. I share publicly some dark events in my life that I have kept to myself until now. I take readers behind the scenes of my journey of being arrested for not one, but two, DUI’s, the unbelievable people, and situations I encountered in jail and court, the staggering challenges and losses I faced. I fell from being recognized as sitting at the pinnacle of excellence in TV news to outed in public shame. Some people hit rock bottom, I hit grave dirt. Because of the hold alcohol had on me, I lost everything: my job, friends, family, respect, credibility, my home, my life. It’s untenable to be a hard-hitting crime reporter when you are accused of a crime yourself.

On page after page, I reveal how I took on the most difficult work assignment of my life involving self, a mirror and honesty to forge a sober path forward. I share the mercy displayed by an unlikely person and the difference that made, plus what treatment looks like and the powerful impact it had on my recovery. The book, Standby, also includes information not widely known: during Covid, alcohol misuse sent nearly twice as many women aged 40 to 64 to the hospital, according to JAMA Health Forum April 2024. Also, women are 30% more susceptible to alcohol than men because female bodies have more fat and less water, that’s important because alcohol dissolves in water in the body.

What was your impetus for writing your book?

At first it was therapeutic. I was stuck at home under house arrest for more than a month. That is a lot of time to have on your hands and be up in your head. Although I wasn’t a reporter anymore, I still possessed the ability to write. I’ve spent most of my adult life telling the stories of other people’s lives, this book describes mine. And it’s among the most daunting stories I’ve composed. As I mentioned, I started out writing this book for me, but as the chapters evolved and I finished the final passages, I realized I wrote Standby for the benefit of others.

What are the messages you want readers to take away from reading your work?

Sobriety doesn’t have to be a solo journey. Standby encourages people to believe in their ability to get better and they can face the pain they’ve been drinking to forget.

Difficulty doesn’t kill who you are, it reveals who you are. None of us are the darkness we endure. We are the light that refused to surrender.

Why did you feel it was important to tell this story?

To inspire people to keep pushing through whatever struggles they are facing. Perhaps the mistakes I made can serve a purpose, instead of serving shame, which is the overwhelming reason 90% of people with a substance abuse issue don’t seek help. And to be a living example that life beyond the bottle is so much better than in the bottle.

What would you tell someone who feels hopeless b/c of mistakes they have made?

This disease is not your fault, how you handle it, is.

What are you working on now and what can we expect from you next?

I am writing a second book, which picks up where Standby left off. To think I would ever have a way back into journalism was not in the cards of reality until I was thrown an unlikely lifeline, four years after imploding my life. I climbed and worked my way back to the top of the news business again, breaking perhaps the biggest stories Minnesota has ever experienced. Ultimately, that cost me my career again, not by addiction or anything I could have foreseen. You’ll have to wait until my next novel to walk through that dismal tunnel with me, as in many ways it has been an even bigger battle than the one I already conquered.

Where can people find out more about you and your work?

They can visit my website: https://www.bethmcdmedia.com/ or my social media -  FB: facebook.com/bemcdn IG: @bemcdn TT: bethmcdonough6 IN: Beth McDonough