Lisa Ling

Television journalist, cohost of The View (1999-2002), born on August 30, 1973. A native of Sacramento, California, Lisa Ling began her career on television at age 16, when she was chosen as one of the four hosts of Scratch, a nationally syndicated teen newsmagazine program filmed in Sacramento. By the age of 18, she had become one of the youngest reporters for Channel One News, which serves 8.5 million students in 12,000 high schools nationwide. Starting out as a reporter for the satellite news service, Ling went on to cover global news. She reported from as many as two dozen countries, including Russia, Cambodia, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, China, Japan, India, Albania, where she covered the bitter civil war and the Kosovo refugee crisis, and the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Before the age of 25, Ling was named Channel One’s senior war correspondent.

In addition to her full time reporting gig at Channel One, Ling attended the University of Southern California. In 1996, she was part of a joint investigation with Time magazine into a Russian company accused by international agencies of smuggling nuclear weapons. Lisa Ling has produced eight documentaries for PBS, which aired on the Los Angeles public television station KCET-TV; topics ranged from drug trafficking (she traveled to the Colombian jungle to find cocaine processing labs) to her 13-year-old cousin’s unsuccessful struggle with liver cancer. Ling has also worked as a freelance correspondent for ABC News’ weekend edition.

In early 1999, after several on-air tryouts, Ling was picked from among three finalists to succeed Debbie Matenopoulos as the twenty-something member of the hosting team of television newswoman Barbara Walters’ successful daily morning talk show, The View. Featuring five women of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and generations (Walters, Ling, Star Jones, Meredith Vieira, and Joy Behar), The View offered a unique mix of perspectives on topics ranging from celebrity interviews to politics and legal issues. The show has earned several Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Show and Ling and her cohosts have earned nods as Outstanding Talk Show Host.