Tonya Mosley Extra

Faces Of NPR showcases the people behind NPR–from the voices you hear every day on the radio to the ones who work outside of the recording studio. You’ll find out about what they do and what they’re inspired by on the daily. Today, we feature Tonya Mosley, Fresh Air Co-host.

The Basics:

Name: Tonya Mosley

Where you’re from: Detroit, MI

Title: Fresh Air Co-host

Handle: @tonyamosley

In a conversation with Terry Gross, you said that you were considered a generalist. How have you broken into this job role without having a niche and being a generalist?

I think it probably comes from the origins of how I got into the business, and that is through television. I started as a production assistant in television where I was doing audio, and then I was running cameras for a really small TV station. And then I moved to producing. And then from producing I moved to reporting and then anchoring. In those early days as a reporter, I reported on all different types of subjects: politics, education, health, crime. And then over the course of my career, I have had beats. So for several years, I was an education reporter. Then I was a crime and courts reporter. For a few years, I covered the statehouse in Indiana, Kentucky and Washington State. And then I was the Silicon Valley bureau chief for KQED where I covered the tech industry. I think all of that experience has made me a generalist, because I know a lot of things about a select few topics. I can go deep and narrow on some specific topics, but I have a curiosity that expands to everything.

Now you’re working as a co-host for Fresh Air, and when people think of Fresh Air, they think of Terry Gross. How do you plan to pave your own path and create a name for yourself with the Fresh Air brand?

Such a good question. A few things….