Lisa Ling
American journalist and television host known for investigative reporting.
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Lisa Jeeway Ling is an American journalist and television personality who has worked for CNN, CBS News, ABC, and the Oprah Winfrey Network. She is known for hosting National Geographic Explorer and the talk show The View, as well as for her investigative reporting on global issues.
Early life
Ling was born in Sacramento, California, to Mary Mei-yan Wang, a Taiwanese immigrant from Tainan, and Chung Teh "Douglas" Ling, who was born in Hong Kong. Her paternal grandmother was born on Labuan, now part of Malaysia, and her paternal grandfather, from Guangzhou, was among the first Chinese students allowed to study in the U.S. in the 1930s, earning degrees from New York University and the University of Colorado before opening the first Chinese restaurant in Folsom, California.
Her parents divorced when she was seven, and she and her sister Laura were raised by their father in Carmichael. Ling attended Del Campo High School, graduating in 1991, and studied at the University of Southern California but left before graduating to work for Channel One News. She is fluent in Spanish.
Career
Ling began in television as one of four hosts of Scratch, a nationally syndicated teen magazine show based in Sacramento. At 18, she joined Channel One News as a reporter and anchor, later serving as a war correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan. She joined The View on May 3, 1999, after beating out about 12,000 hopefuls to replace Debbie Matenopoulos; during her on-air audition she got a navel piercing that Barbara Walters found disgusting. Ling left the show in late 2002 to return to international reporting.
She had proposed segments such as investing for women and said her goal was to say one thing daily that would make people think. After the September 11 attacks, she drew both fire and praise for suggesting that before seeking revenge, the U.S. should ask why anyone would make such an attack. She then hosted National Geographic Ultimate Explorer, which in 2005 moved to the National Geographic Channel as National Geographic Explorer. She covered the drug war in Colombia, investigated the MS-13 gang, explored U.S. prison culture, and traveled into North Korea with a medical missionary group, documented in the 2007 film Inside North Korea.
Personal life
Ling met businessman Philip Levine in 2004; they became engaged in February 2005 but broke it off that October, citing busy schedules. She married radiation oncologist Paul Song on May 26, 2007, in Los Angeles; guests included Connie Chung, Kelly Hu, and Diane Farr. She received an honorary doctorate from National University on June 7, 2009, and gave the commencement speech. Her daughter Jett Ling Song was born on March 8, 2013, and her daughter Ray Ling Song on June 6, 2016; the family lives in Santa Monica, California.
Her younger sister Laura Ling, also a journalist, was detained by North Korea in March 2009 with colleague Euna Lee for illegal entry while filming refugees; they were sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison but released on August 4, 2009, after a visit from former President Bill Clinton. Lisa and Laura co-wrote a book, Somewhere Inside, published in May 2010. Ling identifies as a "die-hard feminist" and was diagnosed with ADHD at age 40.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Lisa Ling (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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