Lisa Ling: On the Best and Worst of America & Who Inspires Her (INTERVIEW)

The investigative journalist talks about her last season of 'Our America,’ and her passion for hard-hitting TV news minus the sensationalism.

B. Myint Jun 11, 2014CELEBRITY

(Photo: Courtesy of OWN)

It takes some serious street cred to get a spot on Barbara Walters’s couch. Just ask Lisa Ling. At age 18, she appeared on high school televisions nationwide on Channel One News, traveling the world and becoming the network’s senior war correspondent by 25. She also investigated nuclear weapons smuggling for Time magazine and produced eight documentaries for PBS. In 1999, Ling joined the hosts of The View. Since then, she has hosted National Geographic Explorer, which included a look inside North Korea which famously involved her going undercover as a medical worker. And in 2011, The Oprah Winfrey Networks (OWN) premiered her series: Our America with Lisa Ling, which is currently airing its final season this year. 

We sat down with Lisa to talk about Our America, her family, and where she's eyeing her next assignment.

We saw that this fifth season will mark the end of your show. How do you feel about the series coming to an end?

It’s bittersweet. I’ve been with OWN since they started and I like to think we played a small role in the success they’re having today, but at the same time, I’ve done 44 episodes and have been so incredibly proud of each one, but I think it was time to move on.

What's next for you?

I got an opportunity at CNN so I thought this would be a good next step. We don’t have a title yet, but there will be opportunities to go international more often, and we’ll tell stories to help people understand each other better. That’s not going to change.

There have been over 44 episodes so far. Looking back, what story affected you the most?

That’s a hard question! I have loved every single episode and feel lucky to have those experiences. We did an episode about seniors in America, which included my dad and some of the things that we have going on with him. We did a piece this season about foster care in Los Angeles. I’ve loved them all. They’ve all contained stories about people who have shared their deepest, darkest, and most hidden secrets in some cases. I’m just so appreciative of people’s candor and willingness to share their stories with me.

How did you get them to open up to you?

I think the reason why they have opened up is because we built a reputation over the last five seasons for not being exploitative or sensational and that’s something that’s really important to me. And it’s hard to do that in television these days because everything is exploitative.

Has Oprah ever given you any advice as far as the stories you tell?

She’s never given me advice because she always appreciated the style we put forward, but she’s been a huge supporter. Nothing excites me more than getting emails from her telling me that she is really pleased or when she tweets about my show. That’s always a thrill.

You've traveled around the United States investigating all kinds of dark subjects from heroin abuse, wrongful convictions, sex trafficking. Have you ever contemplated moving to Canada?

(Laughs) Not at all. While I’ve seen the worst in humanity, I’ve always encountered the best in humanity and that makes me really hopeful. We live in a country where there is a lot of darkness, but we also live in a country where people stand up for others and advocate on their behalf. And that’s something that’s unique about us.

You've done stories on gang violence, the drug war, the very well known 2007 National Geographic documentary Inside North Korea

I’ve always believed that we are more evolved the more we know about each other. As someone in the field, I feel like I’m a better person by being more aware of the people who inhabit this world.