Canadian journalist Ginella Massa makes history through her prime-time news show "Canada Tonight with Ginella Massa.". As the programme starts to air, Massa is believed to become the first hijab-wearing national TV news host in Canada on CBC News Network.
Throughout my career I have always been a first. It’s not easy to imagine yourself in a position when you’ve never seen someone who looks like you in it. Nobody ever said to my face, "you will never get a job on television because you wear a hijab." Partly because that’s discrimination, you can’t say that. But it doesn’t mean they’re not thinking it. Canadians are very polite. It comes in backhanded compliments and micro-aggressions.
While airing live Monday to Friday at 8 PM ET, the show will be covering news and taking into consideration different standpoints.
It's a dream come true to be part of Canada's national public broadcaster and to have a national platform.
The 33-year-old journalist wants to shed some light on diversity in Canada and have her guests reflect on it.
Canada is one of the most multicultural countries in the world but you wouldn’t know that if you looked at some of our newsrooms.
A lot of people are surprised to know that I’m from Panama and I speak Spanish. That’s another part of my identity that often gets left out or forgotten, because there’s so much emphasis on the fact that I’m Muslim and I wear hijab.
Sometimes, there is so much focus on being the first hijab-wearing journalist on TV that I don't get a chance to just be a journalist," Massa said. "And I don't want people to think that I'm a one-trick pony, or I'm only interested in one kind of topic.
