So What Do You Do, Lisa Ling, National Geographic Contributor and Oprah Correspondent?

-Photo by Adam Bouska

Tell me a little about your career path. When did you know you wanted to be a journalist, and what are some of the jobs you've had along the way?
My decision to become a journalist really solidified when I was sent to cover the civil war in Afghanistan when I was 21 years old. I was a sophomore at USC and working for Channel One at the time, and the experience there really opened my eyes in ways I could have never imagined. I think that trip combined with the opportunity to see the world at a young age is what propelled me to continue with journalism.

I started working in television when I was really young -- when I was 15 -- for a nationally syndicated teen magazine show. I did that for three and a half years, and then I immediately went to Channel One. They wanted young-looking reporters, and I guess I looked young at the time. Initially at Channel One, I think I was hired to be a young, fashionable news reader. But at a certain point Channel One decided it was going to do real, substantive journalism. ... And so a few years in at Channel One, I started to get sent on a lot of overseas assignments. I covered the Russian referendum elections in Moscow; I covered stories about globalization in China; the drug wars in Colombia...

And as a young journalist you felt comfortable going to all of these places?
Yeah, I did. The world was a different place at the time. ... I think it was more welcoming for Americans. Not that I've ever been harassed or treated poorly later, but at the time the world seemed like a more welcoming environment for Americans.

Some of the countries you have reported from have pretty conservative policies toward women. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of being a female reporter in these places?
I never had issues about my gender other than, in some male-dominant countries people will talk to my driver or my associate producer who happens to be a man [instead of directly to me]. But for the most part it's a little disarming to have women taking the lead amongst teams. But I don't think it's been an impediment. I think the fact that it has been disarming has actually helped. People don't know how to react, so they react respectfully. They find it so disarming that a woman is asking things of them and speaking directly to them, that they just sort of respond because they don't want to be rude.

What have been your favorite assignments?
Definitely my first and second trips to Afghanistan. Those were definitely the ones that left the biggest impact on me. Also, covering the conflict in Algeria. Also, meeting the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, when we covered the situation in Tibet. Those were all pretty powerful.

Your time as co-host on The View took place during a particularly momentous time in American history. Did Sept. 11 affect your decision to leave the show and go back to international reporting?
It did. Given that I had had such a rich international experience at Channel One and knowing that I wanted to continue doing it at some point in my career, I just felt after Sept. 11 that it was time to get back into the field. The View was a studio job that was terrific and fun, but I was still young enough to go back and work extensively in the field.

How did your correspondent job at The Oprah Winfrey Show come about?
I had brought a [segment] to the Oprah show to promote, about how a mother's incarceration affects her children -- we compared the U.S. system with countries around the world. And the show responded very positively to it and asked me if I'd like to be a regular contributor. A couple of years later, they asked me to be their exclusive field correspondent.

The fact that [Oprah Winfrey] believed in me as a young journalist really meant everything to me, and gave me this incredible platform to share these stories. And I think that's why her integrity, and her desire to raise awareness has been profound. And I don't know that we will ever again have a show on daytime television that will send a correspondent to cover gang-rape in Congo, or about dowry deaths in India, or about child trafficking in Ghana. So the fact that she allowed me to do that kind of work really meant so much to me.

What's going to be the focus of your upcoming show on the OWN network?
It's going to be a documentary series, and I hope it's not going to be too dissimilar from the kinds of things I've been doing for National Geographic -- just a little more immersive. We're not exactly sure how it will air. I'm hoping that it's a series of specials so that it's not every single week, but that's for them to determine.

You've focused for the most part on television journalism throughout your career. Do you have any ambitions to do print or online work?
I think I've stuck with television because I've been in it for so long, and because I've been able to work in television. I by no means feel like I need to stay in television journalism; I've been lucky enough to get to do the kinds of stories that I feel strongly about, but if I don't, then I certainly don't have to stay in television. I contribute to USA Weekend magazine, and I'd definitely like to explore more writing. I think the Internet is the future, so I would for sure like to raise my profile online a lot more. I think one day I won't be working in television, and I'll just have a presence online.

Your sister's jailing in North Korea earlier this year was obviously a major news story, but it was also a very personal issue for you and your family. Has that at all affected your willingness to go into dangerous situations in your own reporting?
To be honest, it has made me much more eager to want to tell stories that are not being told. I can't say the same is true for [my sister] -- you'd have to ask her. But I just feel like our media is really cutting back on covering a lot of substantive international stories, and it's a shame. [They're doing it] because of budget cuts and this assumed impression that Americans don't care about what's happening in the world.

Tell me a little about your special Explorer: Narco State set, which debuted December 13th on the National Geographic Channel.
I've done specials for National Geographic for the last few years, and I wanted to do this story because I had been reading about the enormous rise of kidnappings in Phoenix, Ariz. And when I was with a team investigating a kidnapping in Phoenix, it really seemed like we were in Mexico. All of the players were from Mexico, and it was really disturbing that what was happening in Phoenix was happening just over the border, as well. And as someone who lives not far from the border in Los Angeles, it's definitely something that I am concerned about.

I was shocked when I went and did that story. As soon as my plane touched down, I got called to a kidnapping investigation at eight in the morning that went on until two o'clock in the morning. And I really did feel like I was in Mexico, because it's a situation and a conflict that parallels just over the border.

What issues around the world are you following most closely right now? Where are you looking for future segments?
I think that what's going on in Afghanistan is vitally, vitally important, and I would go if I had the chance to go. I think that what's happening in China and India... you could spend an entire career covering issues there. One of the things I'm really excited about internationally is that there's a really strong movement around the issues of raising the rights of women and girls. Our own State Department has made it part of its diplomatic agenda, and I think that's a huge first step.

Would you be interested in doing a sit-down talk show like The View ever again?
I don't rule out anything. I'm personally not interested -- or very good at -- doing cooking segments and stuff like that. But I'd love to do a sit-down show where we actually talk about substantive things.

That doesn't mean you can't have a substantive conversation with a celebrity, but that would be my ideal situation. And that's not a knock on people who do cooking segments, but it always looks really disingenuous of me when I do cooking segments because I don't cook. People watching end up saying "something doesn't look right here."

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]