Ginella Massa to make history with CBC news show

Toronto journalist Ginella Massa’s career has involved many firsts.

In 2015, she was believed to be the first TV news reporter in North America to wear a hijab on-air as a video journalist for CTV News in Kitchener, Ont.

The next year at CityNews Toronto, she became the first Muslim woman in hijab to ever anchor a major newscast in Canada.

And on Monday, the CBC says it’s believed she’ll become the first hijab-wearing national TV news host in Canada, with the debut of her primetime news show “Canada Tonight with Ginella Massa.”

“It’s a dream come true to be part of Canada’s national public broadcaster and to have a national platform,” the Canadian Screen Award winner said in an interview.

“I see news as a public good. And that’s what’s great about being with the public broadcaster, is that it’s less about dollars and cents as it is with a private news network. I’m very aware of the fact that we are publicly funded, so I see it as a responsibility.”

Airing live at 8 p.m. ET on CBC News Network, “Canada Tonight with Ginella Massa” aims to cover current affairs from a variety of perspectives across the country.

“‘Canada Tonight’ is basically a conversation with Canadians,” said Massa, 33. “We want to go beyond the headlines, talk about some of the stories that don’t often get a lot of coverage, hear from people that we don’t often hear from. We want to talk to the people at the heart of the story, the people who are really impacted by these issues.”