Get to know Minnesota Now’s new host Nina Moini through the people who shaped her

I am not new to MPR News, I’ve worked here for seven years as a reporter, editor and host. But I am new to serving as your host for Minnesota Now. The producers of the show suggested we put together a story to help introduce me to you all.

I always say other Minnesota journalists helped to really raise me and inspired me to pursue a career that I have considered a calling since I was very young. I hope you will enjoy this little trip down memory lane. Senior producer Aleesa Kuznetsov and I visited some of the people and newsrooms that have shaped my work.

Eastview High School, Apple Valley

My introduction to broadcast journalism started almost 20 years ago at Eastview High School. My broadcast journalism teacher Nick Fornicoia is still teaching students at “EVTV” studio, which is his classroom. But before we could even get inside to revisit those spaces, we saw the walls covered with photos of dozens of alumni who made careers out of what they first learned here.

Fornicoia’s most recent addition, my announcement of my new role as host at MPR News, framed. “I’m very proud of what she has done and who she’s become, and never take any credit for things like that, but it’s just nice to be part of it.”

We then walked into the studio where I was instantly transported back in time.

Fornicoia dug up some old videos of my classmates and me delivering the morning announcements, including a regretful decision to wish all 2,000 students a happy birthday.

“I think your classes, your era really felt like its own sports team. You work together as a team to produce this, and it kind of felt like that family team atmosphere,” Fornicoia remembered.

Fornicoia’s class was one of my first true lessons in teamwork and how a newsroom operates. Everyone's role is critical. Everyone must work together to get the broadcast out there.

KARE 11’s ‘Whatever’

With the confidence I was gaining in school, I decided at 16 I would go to an open audition at Mall of America for a show called “Whatever.”

It was a Saturday morning news magazine show on KARE-TV with teenage reporters geared toward other teens. I made it on the show, and recently sat down to re-watch a clip of my first interview with a politician. It was 2007 and a newly elected member of Congress, Keith Ellison, was just sworn into office.

And in a full circle moment, I watched this clip with my new boss Erin Warhol, MPR News assistant program director. She co-created “Whatever” in 1998. It ran for 10 years.

“It’s so fun to see you on there and little Nina Moini on there, and then look at you now,” said Warhol, “I’m so thrilled that you’re here and that you’re about to take on hosting Minnesota Now and working with the amazing production team that you have here, and it’s just going to be great.”

WCCO-TV

I went to the University of Missouri for college and got my first job in TV in Florida. At 24, I got a wonderful opportunity to return to Minnesota to be the morning reporter at WCCO-TV. That’s where I spent four years traveling the state, reporting on all kinds of topics, difficult and joyous.

We visited long time WCCO-TV anchors Amelia Santaniello and Frank Vascellaro in downtown Minneapolis recently to reminisce.

“You’re always so passionate about whatever story you’re doing, and you can go from hard news to feature, but I think it was important for you always to get it right,” said Santaniello.

This duo gave me a lot of encouragement during a formative time in my career and showed me an example of what it looks like to be a thoughtful and kind leader in a newsroom.

MPR News

After nearly seven years in television news, I felt ready for a change of pace and a chance to have longer, deeper conversations, like the ones we get to have on Minnesota Now.

In 2017, I reached out to the nicest person I would sometimes bump into on stories back when I was a television reporter, Laura Yuen. She’s currently a columnist for The Minnesota Star Tribune, but at the time was reporting for MPR News.

Yuen reminisced on the difficult stories we covered together, the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, “You know what they say — pressure creates a diamond —  and so those relationships I made with people at MPR news during such a difficult time, I’ll always have that and carry that.”

Yuen’s support of my transition to radio news, her work with intentionality and compassion made her a role model for me, journalistically, but also as a genuinely kind person. I’ve learned in this industry, people with a true passion for public service often last the longest and are able to remain inspired even in difficult times.

One of those people is the amazing Angela Davis. She and I are 20 years apart in age, but connected immediately when we both worked at WCCO-TV more than a decade ago.

She’s been a mentor and a friend, and she was the person who first encouraged me to apply for an open weekend reporter position at MPR News almost seven years ago. I had no idea she would also make the switch to MPR News as a host the following year.

“Being a host, I think the most important thing is just to be true to yourself, is to be authentically you,” Davis shared with me. And she’s been a great example of that for me as I start this new role.

Without all of these great Minnesota newsrooms and journalists, I don’t think I would be here today. I’m ready, excited and grateful to be able to share an hour with you all each day of local news on Minnesota Now.

Listen to Minnesota Now Monday-Thursdays at noon on the radio or the live audio stream at mprnews.org.