Laura Ling graduated from UCLA with a degree in communication studies in 1998 and went on to become a television journalist, traveling the world for former Vice President Al Gore’s independent cable channel Current TV. Ling was detained in North Korea for several months in 2009, before former President Bill Clinton helped her and another imprisoned journalist return home safely. Ling has since worked hosting the E! Network documentary series E! Investigates. She will moderate an event tonight featuring former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Daily Bruin’s Katherine Hafner spoke to Ling about her experiences as a student at UCLA, being detained in North Korea and why she thinks Annan’s story can speak to students.
Daily Bruin: First of all, you are a UCLA alumna. Tell us about your experiences at UCLA and how they have shaped your life experiences.
Laura Ling: I loved my experience at UCLA. I not only feel like I got a great education, but I met some of the best friends that I think I’ll have for life. I grew up in a small community outside of Sacramento, Calif. – it was pretty homogenous and non-diverse. (After) stepping foot at UCLA, this whole world of diversity opened up to me. I think that was one of the more impactful parts of my experience at UCLA – just meeting so many different people from so many different backgrounds who all have such interesting stories. It was a great place to just share ideas and learn about different kinds of people. It opened my eyes to a whole world of diversity and that further propelled me to want to get out in the world and explore different cultures and places and situations through reporting and journalism.
DB: For readers who don’t know you too well, can you give us a brief overview of your career as a journalist?
LL: I got my start in television journalism at a channel called Channel One News, which is an educational program that airs in schools across the country. I started there as a researcher and worked my way up. That was where I discovered the power that the TV media can have on people of my generation. I’ve always been interested in reaching the younger generation. Then I went to Current TV, which is a news channel founded by former Vice President Al Gore. … That was an amazing opportunity because we were an independent cable channel. We could really push the limits in terms of the stories we were exploring. So we had a team of correspondents going all around the world covering issues, from Islamic extremism in Somalia to the conflict over oil in Nigeria. … All sorts of important issues that weren’t getting a lot of coverage at the time. And now I am a reporter for the E! Network. I report for their documentary series E! Investigates.
DB: You came to national attention when you were detained in North Korea for several months as a journalist for Current TV. Tell us about that experience, and how it affected you both on a personal and professional level.
LL: I was in Northern China covering the issue of trafficking women from North Korea into China. Many of these women end up … in desperate conditions in China. Many are sold into marriages with men, others are put in the prostitution industry. It’s really a humanitarian crisis taking place in that region of the world. That’s what took me to that part of the world, because I wanted to shine a light on that particular issue. In the process of filming that documentary, my colleague and I were apprehended along the border and taken into North Korea, where we were held for several months. It was the most terrifying time of my life. Personally, having been through that experience, it has sort of changed my perspective on how I view life and given me this gratitude that I have and continue to have. And professionally, I would be lying if I said it hasn’t had an impact on me. I haven’t been out to report on the same types of stories that I used to report on around the world. I still feel like those stories are extremely important to be told and need to be told. … But since I’ve been back, I have stayed closer to home and been reporting on issues in our own backyard.
DB: You received a lot of media attention following your detainment. Was it odd being the one at the other end of the interview for a change?
LL: It was extremely awkward and uncomfortable to be the person on the other end. I had gone to tell a story and shine a light on an issue that I was and continue to be very passionate about, and then to have the cameras turn on me was very difficult to deal with. I could’ve gone into a self-imposed isolation. For the first few weeks or even months it was hard to even leave my house. But I did start to write about my experience, and that was very therapeutic and cathartic. Now I am able to talk about my experience pretty openly, because I feel like I can use my voice to continue to bring attention to the issue we were there covering.
DB: What would be the primary message you have for UCLA students after that experience?
LL: Despite what happened to me, I still feel that traveling – being out in the world and seeing different places and people and getting a different perspective on things – is one of the most important things that I’ve experienced and that I think people, especially young people – college students – can do at this point in their lives. When you see the world outside of your own comfort zone, and you see what other people are going through, it changes your whole perspective on the world and how you view the world, and it’s very life-changing. So I would encourage students to get out of that comfort zone and to travel and explore the world out there. Because it really is becoming such a smaller world, in many cases.
DB: What are your goals for moderating this year’s Luskin Lecture for Thought Leadership? What do you expect from Kofi Annan?
LL: I have immense respect for (Annan) and the role he’s had at the UN. I know that many students and faculty and members of the community have had the opportunity to write in questions. So I will be facilitating that discussion by gathering the questions that have come in, asking him some broader questions based on those topics and interjecting with my own questions. I’m curious to hear about his time at the UN – it was such a critical time in global history. He was the head of the UN during Sept. 11, and that was an event that changed our world. I think the role of the UN has become ever more important, so I’m interested to hear about leading the UN at such a critical time. For students, I think it’ll be really fascinating to hear how the secretary-general rose from the lowest professional rank at the UN to become its leader. I think it’s a great story of determination, will and passion for public service, that I think young people could really relate to.
At the event tonight, Annan will make a 20-minute presentation followed by a 40-minute question-and-answer session moderated by Ling. The lecture will take place at Royce Hall tonight at 5 p.m. Tickets are currently sold out, but students with BruinCards can form a standby line starting at 4 p.m.