Lisa Ling
Host, Our America with Lisa Ling on OWN, Journalist, Author, Correspondent, National Geographic Explorer
Journalist Lisa Ling travels around the world, bringing attention to stories that often go unreported. As the field correspondent for OWN – The Oprah Winfrey Network and contributor to ABC News’ Nightline and National Geographic’s Explorer, Ling reported from dozens of countries, covering stories ranging from gang rape in the Congo and bride burning in India to the treatment of animals on farms here in the United States.
Ling got her start as a correspondent for Channel One News, where she covered the civil war in Afghanistan at only 21 years of age. She later went to become a co-host of ABC Daytime’s hit show The View, which won its first daytime Emmy during her time at the show.
As the first woman host of National Geographic’s Explorer, Ling has covered war-torn Iraq, investigated the increasingly deadly drug war in Colombia, and examined the complex issues surrounding China’s one-child policy.
Ling was also a special correspondent for CNN‘s Planet in Peril series and is a contributing editor for USA Today’s USA Weekend magazine. She is the co-author of Mother, Sister, Daughter, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood, and Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and The Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home, that she penned with her sister Laura.
Ling is the co-founder of iVolunteer.org and secretsocietyofwomen.com and is now host of her own series on the new channel OWN called Our America with Lisa Ling.
The Importance of a Global Perspective
Lisa recounts stories that profoundly changed her life and talks about how travel and going beyond one’s comfort zone is wholly transformative, making one smarter, more well rounded and more marketable.
Open Heart, Open Mind
In today’s culture of “sound bite news,” many important issues get overlooked, if they get covered at all. Lisa Ling has dedicated herself to shedding light on stories impacting the world in which we live. In her presentations, complete with a lively Q&A session, Lisa shares a collection of stories from her over 20 year career in media that have profoundly affected her outlook on life. Her hope is that through her experiences people may be provoked to think about things differently and allow themselves to expand their horizons.