Meet Ubah Ali, the Twin Cities' first Somali-American TV reporter

CATHY WURZER: Minnesota has the largest Somali population outside of Somalia. Yet it isn't until now that the Twin Cities has had its first Somali-American reporter on a local TV station. Ubah Ali has started as a reporter at WCCO-TV. She's with us right now. Ubah, welcome.

UBAH ALI: Thank you, Cathy. How are you?

CATHY WURZER: I'm great. Thanks for joining us. I know you're busy. You probably have a general assignment to go to. I'm assuming you're a GA reporter, is that right?

UBAH ALI: Yes, I am. Today is actually my last day of training, so just finishing up that.

CATHY WURZER: Good, good. I understand you're from Rochester, Minnesota. Your family came from Somalia when you were just an infant, is that right?

UBAH ALI: Yeah, that's right. Came to, actually, Boston when I was a year, and a half and my brother was a year older than me. And then we stayed in Boston for, I want to say, a year and a half before moving to Rochester. And she's never left. And that's where we call home.

CATHY WURZER: Tell me about your journey to journalism. What made you want to become a reporter?

UBAH ALI: Oh, man. We could talk all day about this. But in short, my mom always said I was always-- she called it nosy, growing up. And my siblings also used to say, you're so interested in people's lives, and this, and that. And I just knew I loved listening to stories. I knew I loved telling stories. And it wasn't until my junior year of high school in Rochester John Marshall where I was able to take, not an internship but a mentorship program for credit, instead of taking another class.

And I said, I went to the advisor at the time, and I said, I want to do something like Christiane Amanpour does for CNN International. And she said, well, let me reach out to some TV stations in Rochester. No one got back to her, and I ended up doing my mentorship at Mayo Clinic with the Public Affairs team. And I quickly learned that I loved whatever they were doing minus the medical jargon. That was a little bit-- it went over my head, honestly. But it was from then that I knew I wanted to be a journalist. And I just couldn't wait for what the future held.

CATHY WURZER: When you told your family you wanted to be a news anchor, what was their initial reaction?

UBAH ALI: Oh, my gosh. When I told my mom I was going to St. Cloud to pursue journalism, she just shook her head, and she was like, well honey, there's no one that looks like you on American TV. And I said, I know, but things change, and I'm just going to go for it. There's nothing else that I'm good at. This is what I'm good at, and we're going to go for it. And she allowed me to dream and dream big. But she always made sure that it didn't come easy, and that I would have a lot of pushback, and a lot of no's. But my family was always going to be in my corner to uplift me and allow me to continue chasing those dreams.

CATHY WURZER: Gosh, it was just, what, five years ago when a reporter made history by wearing a hijab on TV. And you also wore a hijab on air, right? Have you faced pushback on that?

UBAH ALI: So not necessarily pushback, I mean, you have those folks that comment. I believe it's just because they don't know what the hijab symbolizes. And if they would just sit down and have a conversation with someone, a woman who wears the hijab, they would get a better understanding. I'd like to say I don't get a lot of pushback on my hijab. If there's any pushback, it's some commenters that are not ecstatic about the story I'm telling, or have different views, or whatever the case may be. But I've been lucky enough to not receive so much hate mail, if you will, for my hijab.

CATHY WURZER: Why is it important to have Somali representation on air, especially in the Twin Cities?

UBAH ALI: Oh, I think it's huge, just to have someone that you could turn to if you really are nervous about telling your story. And in the Somali community, a lot of people shy away from television, news, and shy away from being interviewed. I think just having someone that you can turn to and see yourself in can possibly help bring more stories from the Somali community, from the Muslim community in Minnesota in general. So I think it's something that's been a long time coming, and I'm very excited.

CATHY WURZER: When I saw that you got the job at WCCO-TV, I thought, OK, this woman is making history. Has that occurred to you, that you really are making history?

UBAH ALI: I think, honestly, I'm just-- it's still a pinch me moment. I'm just so ecstatic and thrilled to be at CCO. I interned here back in 2017, and I had high hopes of coming back and being a journalist in Minnesota, and specifically in Minneapolis. So to be able to finally check that off and just wake up every-- I wake up every morning just extremely grateful that I'm here doing what I dreamed about as a junior in high school.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, my goodness. All right. So you are ready to go off on this career with CCO. You are going to be a general assignment reporter. There are stories within your community that you're hoping to cover, that have not been done before. Do you have a list of stories you might wanna do?

UBAH ALI: I think it's just a gamut of-- yeah, just a gamut of stories. Obviously, I can't wait to tell the stories, not just in the Muslim community, Somali community, but just in the Minnesota general population, what matters to you. Seeking the truth through questions and the cameras is a slogan I use often. And I think it's something that matters a lot to me, giving those who otherwise go voiceless an opportunity and a platform, I think it's just the major thing for me as I embark on this new journey.

CATHY WURZER: Well, best of luck, Ubah. Really, it's been just such a pleasure. We'll be watching.

UBAH ALI: Thank you so much, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Ubah Ali has been with us. She's with WCCO-TV.