2012 STARS Hall of Fame

Laura Ling

Laura Ling is a journalist, producer, and author. Recently, Ling served as Vice President of Current TV’s journalism department and created Current’s weekly investigative documentary series “Vanguard.”

In addition to overseeing the department and guiding its editorial vision, Ling worked as a correspondent reporting on crucial issues from around the world. She has reported from dozens of countries and has covered subjects including slave labor in the Brazilian Amazon, Mexico’s drug war, Internet censorship in China, and women’s rights in Turkey. Under her leadership, episodes of “Vanguard” received numerous prestigious awards including the Alfred I. DuPont Award and several Emmy nominations.

In March 2009, while reporting on the trafficking of North Korean women, Ling was detained by North Korean soldiers along the Chinese-North Korean border. She and her colleague Euna Lee were arrested and held captive in North Korea for 140 days before being granted a special pardon and returning to the United States. She has since sought to shine a light on the issue of trafficked women as well as to bring greater attention to the plight of other imprisoned journalists around the world.

Prior to joining Current in 2005, Ling worked as a series producer for Channel One News where she produced reports from around the globe.  Ling co-created "Breaking it Down," a documentary series on MTV that aired between 1999 and 2001. Her work has also appeared on ABC's "Nightline," NBC, PBS, and the WB.

Ling is co-author of Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home, that she penned with sister Lisa.