When Hena Doba began her TV career at a local station in Watertown, New York, anchoring a cable news show seemed about as likely as walking on the moon. But, it’s funny things workout sometimes. Her unconventional path has led her to NewsNation.
Doba is about to celebrate her first anniversary with the upstart cable news network, where she anchors Morning in America Weekend, which airs from 7-10 AM ET.
The NewsNation anchor served as a producer in her first television job. And when asked if she ever thought she could ascend to the national stage, her answer was a quick one.
“Never,” she replied. “I never thought I’d be on air, to be honest.”
Her first opportunity to move in front of the camera came during 9/11. Most would relish the opportunity to be on television covering the biggest news story since Pearl Harbor. However, as a first-generation Pakistani American, Doba was forced to deal with racially-charged comments from viewers.
“My news director, in the beginning, did get a few emails. People didn’t want me on the air,” she shared. “‘Why are you putting a terrorist on air?’ is one of those things that were said. But that one news director took a chance on me. He easily could have pulled me off air. I’m a producer, and I was happy to be a producer, but he kept me on and I got job after job because of this one person.”
After honing her craft in smaller markets — like Savannah, Georgia and Hartford, Connecticut, Hena Doba eventually landed a role at CBS News serving as a national correspondent. She later added duties anchoring The National Desk with Hena Doba.
In 2019, however, Doba left CBS News after eight years for Cheddar, the streaming financial news network. Many would consider a move from an industry titan like CBS News to a digital start-up would be a clear step down. Including Hena Doba’s agent.
“He’s like ‘People don’t leave CBS to go to Cheddar.’ And I remember thinking ‘Ok,’ so I fired him,” she said with a laugh.
Doba said the move to Cheddar took her “out of her bubble” and allowed her to broaden her horizons and showcase her personality more on the air. She believes the experience has helped shape her today.
“Now, when I’m doing hard news again, I feel like I can handle anything because those kinds of risks taught me to be very flexible. And I think that’s one of my talents right now,” said Doba. “One of my strongest assets right now is how flexible I am when it comes to the news.”
Hena Doba continued by stating that she believes one of the main reasons she is at NewsNation today is because the upstart cable news outlet features many former Cheddar employees, proving everything comes full circle. She called the ability to host Mornings in America Weekend on the non-partisan news network a “dream come true.”
“You don’t want to leave out any side. I’ve been doing this long enough that the story was never about you. The key is to just tell the story without any kind of unconscious bias coming into it.”
“There are people with experience. The management team are all coming from huge networks,” Doba added of NewsNation. “We all just wanted to try something new that isn’t like everything that viewers have been seeing for so long … so this was just a brand new voice with so many journalists coming from different philosophies when it comes to news, and especially breaking news.”
When asked who her influences were growing up, Doba quickly pointed to talents like CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, who spent nearly a decade and a half at ABC News. She said working in proximity with Vargas — and other NewsNation talents like Ashleigh Banfield, Chris Cuomo, and Dan Abrams — has improved her work.
“I’ve become a better journalist, for sure,” she said of her year with the cable news operation. “I was always confident. I’ve been doing this a long time. But just working alongside these people and sitting next to them and watching them work … it’s been incredible because I’m working alongside these other incredible journalists.”
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
