Laura Ling

Last updated

Laura Ling
凌志美
Born
Laura G. Ling

(1976-12-01) December 1, 1976 (age 47)
Carmichael, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles
OccupationJournalist
Notable credit(s) Channel One News, MTV, Current TV, E! Network
SpouseIain Clayton [1]
Children2
Relatives Lisa Ling (sister)

In the last week of March 2009, North Korea announced that two American journalists were detained and would be indicted and tried for illegally entering the country. On May 3, 2009, it was announced that Ling and Euna Lee were the two who had been detained, after they attempted to film refugees and defectors along the border with China. [30] In June 2009, they were sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison for illegal entry into North Korea, and unspecified hostile acts. [31] [32]

Of the trial, Ling later said,

"I had tried to prepare myself for a lengthy sentence, but really nothing could prepare me for the verdict when I heard the words twelve years...he said, no forgiveness, no appeal...And I was wondering if those words meant that the window of opportunity had closed and my fate was sealed."

[ citation needed ]

One US newspaper called it a show trial. [33] The US government made diplomatic efforts to oppose this sentence before the women were released in August 2009. [34]

Lisa Ling stated that when her sister and Lee left the United States, they never intended to cross into North Korea. She also said that her sister had required medical treatment for an ulcer. [35]

In 2010, Ling co-wrote a memoir with her sister Lisa, Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home.

Diplomatic crisis

Many in both the United States and South Korea have accused Ling and Lee of creating a diplomatic crisis with North Korea during a particularly tense emergency that was already underway between North Korea and the United States. Both Ling and Lee addressed these allegations in their memoirs. Some human rights activists in South Korea have accused Lee and Ling of needlessly placing North Korean refugees in danger by not being more careful with their tapes and notebooks in the event they were apprehended. [36]

In the efforts to negotiate Ling and Lee's release, diplomatic envoys were brought up as an option, and many different envoys were considered including the Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, former US President Jimmy Carter, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton. The latter was ultimately accepted as an envoy by the North Korean regime. [37] Ling was pardoned along with Lee, and they returned to the United States following an unannounced visit to North Korea by Bill Clinton on August 4, 2009. [10] [38]

Awards

Ling was named one of Glamour magazine's Women of the Year in 2009. In 2011, Ling received the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. In 2014, she won an Emmy Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio Television Digital News Association) for SoCal Connected. [39] [40] [41] [42] [24] In 2012, Ling was inducted into the San Juan Education Foundation Hall of Fame. As the Director of Development and Correspondent for Discovery Digital Networks, Ling won a Gracie Award in 2016. [43]

While she was the vice president of Vanguard, the show won several awards including a Peabody Award, two Emmy nominations, a Prism Award, and an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award. [44] [24]

Personal life

Laura Ling is married to Iain Clayton, [1] a financial analyst. [45] They have a daughter, Li Jefferson Clayton, born on June 3, 2010. She was named after Ling's sister, Lisa, and President Bill Clinton, whose middle name is Jefferson. [45] They have a son, Kai Clayton, born on December 18, 2013. [46]

Published works

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soong Mei-ling</span> First Lady of the Republic of China (1898–2003)

Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang, was a Chinese political figure who was First Lady of the Republic of China, the wife of President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China. Soong played a prominent role in the politics of the Republic of China and was the sister-in-law of Sun Yat-sen, the founder and the leader of the Republic of China. She was active in the civic life of her country and held many honorary and active positions, including chairwoman of Fu Jen Catholic University. During World War II, she rallied against the Japanese; and in 1943 conducted an eight-month speaking tour of the United States to gain support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea Clinton</span> American writer (born 1980)

Chelsea Victoria Clinton is an American writer. She is the only child of Bill Clinton, a former U.S. President, and Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. senator, and presidential candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Richardson</span> American politician (1947–2023)

William Blaine Richardson III was an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, a U.S. congressman, chair of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

Stephen Leo Bing was an American businessman, film producer, investor, philanthropist, and screenwriter. He was the founder of Shangri-La Entertainment, an organization with interests in property, construction, entertainment and music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Current TV</span> American television channel

Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smaller stake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Ling</span> American journalist

Lisa J. Ling is an American journalist and television personality. She is a news contributor for CBS News. Previously, she was the host for This Is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN, a reporter on Channel One News, a co-host on the ABC daytime talk show The View (1999–2002), the host of National Geographic Explorer (2003–2010), and a special correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show. Ling later hosted Our America with Lisa Ling on the Oprah Winfrey Network from 2011 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Yamaguchi</span>

Adam Yamaguchi is an American television journalist and producer. Yamaguchi was a correspondent and producer for the Peabody Award winning series Vanguard on Current TV, a former cable network founded by US Vice President Al Gore.

Douglas Jay Band is an American businessman and lawyer who is a founding partner and former president of Teneo, a multinational C-suite advisory firm and investment bank. Previously he was Deputy Assistant to President Bill Clinton in the White House and later counselor to President Bill Clinton. Band was the "key architect" of the Clinton post-presidency and he created the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Band later worked for the William J. Clinton Foundation, and also traveled to North Korea to orchestrate the release of the two Americans and to Cuba to help secure the release of another American, Alan P. Gross.

Euna Lee is a Korean American journalist. While working for Current TV, Lee and fellow journalist Laura Ling were detained in North Korea after they crossed into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from the People's Republic of China without a visa in March 2009. They were found guilty of illegal entry and sentenced to twelve years' hard labor in June 2009. The United States Government protested the sentences, and implemented diplomatic efforts in order to secure the release of both Lee and Ling. On August 4, 2009, Lee and Ling were pardoned by the North Korean government after a special humanitarian visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. She wrote a book on her experiences in North Korea titled The World Is Bigger Now: An American Journalist's Release from Captivity in North Korea ... A Remarkable Story of Faith, Family, and Forgiveness.

<i>Vanguard</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Vanguard is a television documentary series that was broadcast on the now defunct Current TV television network. Vanguard reported on such issues as the environment, drugs, and the effects of globalization and conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 imprisonment of American journalists by North Korea</span> US–North Korea diplomatic standoff

On March 17, 2009, North Korean soldiers detained two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were working for the U.S.-based independent television station Current TV, after they crossed into North Korea from China without a visa. They were found guilty of illegal entry and sentenced to twelve years' hard labor in June 2009. The North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned the two on August 5, 2009, the day after the former U.S. president Bill Clinton arrived in the country on a publicly unannounced visit.

Han Park is a professor at the University of Georgia in the United States.

The post-presidency of Bill Clinton began on January 20, 2001 following the end of Bill Clinton's second term as president. Clinton was the 42nd president of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. After he left office, he continued to be active in the public sphere, touring the world, writing books, and campaigning for Democrats, including his wife, Hillary Clinton, who served as the junior U.S. senator from New York between 2001 and 2009 and the 67th United States Secretary of State between 2009 and 2013, on her presidential campaigns in 2008, in which she was runner-up for the Democratic nomination, and in 2016, when she lost the election to Donald Trump. After Clinton left office, he ended up forming a close friendship with George H. W. Bush and later, with George W. Bush.

Justin Cooper is a former adviser to Bill Clinton, former President of the United States. Cooper first worked within the Office of Science and Technology before later becoming an aide for former President of the United States Bill Clinton.

Lisa Dickey, a native of Pensacola, Florida, is an American author and ghostwriter. Since 1997, she has worked on more than 20 nonfiction books, in fields ranging from technology to politics to Hollywood memoirs, including ten New York Times bestsellers. In January 2017, St. Martin's Press published her first non-collaborative book, Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys Across a Changing Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maureen Cormack</span> American diplomat

Maureen Elizabeth Cormack is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2015 to 2019. She served as acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from August to September 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States presidential visits to East Asia</span> US presidential visits to East Asia

Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to East Asia. The first presidential trip to a country in East Asia was made by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. Since then, all presidents, except John F. Kennedy, have traveled to one or more nations in the region while in office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euna Kim</span> American rapper

Euna Kim, is a Korean American retired singer and rapper, previously based in South Korea. She appeared as a contestant on the South Korean survival reality shows Superstar K 3 (2011), Unpretty Rapstar 3 (2016), and The Unit (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa (rapper)</span> Thai rapper (born 1997)

Lalisa Manobal, known mononymously as Lisa (Korean: 리사), is a Thai rapper, singer, dancer, and actress. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, which debuted under YG Entertainment in August 2016. She is set to make her acting debut in 2025 in the HBO television series The White Lotus.

References

  1. 1 2 McKinley, Jesse (June 9, 2009). "Two Paths, Same Fate for Reporters Facing Prison". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 5, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2009. In a June 1 interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Ms. Ling's husband, Iain Clayton, read a letter from his wife.
  2. ↑ Date of birth found on the California Birth Index 1905-1995, under LING, LAURA G.
  3. ↑ "Laura Ling's Father: 'I Worry Quite A Bit'". KCRA-TV. March 19, 2009. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  4. ↑ Fillo, MaryEllen (March 22, 2013). "Laura Ling - Journalist, Author and Documentary TV Host | Hartford Magazine". Hartfordmag.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ Stelter, Brian (October 11, 2010). "MEDIA DECODER - New Host for 'E! Investigates' - Web Log - NYTimes.com". New York Times. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  6. ↑ Bloom, David (November 12, 2014). "Laura Ling Joins Discovery Digital Networks As Director of Development". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Award-Winning Journalist Laura Ling Joins Discovery Digital Networks". Webwire.com. November 12, 2014. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ Ling, Laura; Ling, Lisa (2010). Somewhere Inside One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home. New York City: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0-06-200068-2.
  9. ↑ "North Korea pardons US reporters". BBC News. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  10. 1 2 "N. Korean leader reportedly pardons U.S. journalists". CNN. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on August 8, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Lawmaker urges ministry to help captive journalist - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. April 3, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  12. ↑ Castaneda, Erin (April 4, 2008), "Journalist (Lisa) Ling shares her own story", Lawrence Journal-World, archived from the original on June 7, 2011, retrieved August 20, 2009
  13. ↑ Taub, Daniel (August 6, 2009), "Journalists arrive in U.S. following imprisonment", Bloomberg News, retrieved August 7, 2009
  14. ↑ McKinley, Jesse (June 10, 2009). "Two Paths, Same Fate for Reporters Facing Prison". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  15. ↑ Karapetian, Srbui (June 21, 2019). "UCLA alumna's detention sparks worries at alma mater". Daily Bruin. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  16. 1 2 Abdulrahim, Raja; Garrison, Jessica (June 11, 2009), "Friends speak up for L.A. journalists held by N. Korea", Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on June 13, 2009, retrieved August 20, 2009
  17. ↑ "Laura Ling on a new beat with 'E! Investigates'". TwinCities.com. Pioneer Press. November 12, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  18. ↑ Biography Archived December 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine ; Discovery News; November 12, 2014
  19. ↑ "Ling Sisters Recount Laura's Capture In North Korea". NPR.org. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  20. ↑ Itagaki, Lynn Mie (Summer 2013). "Crisis Temporalities: States of Emergency and the Gendered-Sexualized Logics of Asian American Women Abroad". Feminist Formations. 25 (2): 196–197, 203. doi:10.1353/ff.2013.0015. S2CID   143932529 – via JSTOR.
  21. ↑ Catlin, Roger (June 9, 2009). "The Dangerous Places of Laura Ling". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  22. ↑ "Laura Ling to Host New E! Show". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  23. 1 2 "Laura Ling to host E! show". The Hollywood Reporter. October 12, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  24. 1 2 3 "Laura Ling | WME Speakers". www.wmespeakers.com. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  25. ↑ Society X with Laura Ling , retrieved March 25, 2019
  26. ↑ Fillo, MaryEllen (March 22, 2013). "Laura Ling - Journalist, Author and Documentary TV Host | Hartford Magazine". Hartfordmag.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Laura Ling Biography". San Juan Education Foundation. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Discovery Digital Networks, Laura Ling and ONE Shed Light on Africa's Energy Crisis – Discovery, Inc". corporate.discovery.com. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Seeker's Laura Ling, OWN Honored with Gracie Awards – Discovery, Inc". corporate.discovery.com. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  30. ↑ Park, Michael Y. (March 23, 2009). "Lisa Ling's Sister Arrested in North Korea". People. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  31. ↑ "Reporters get 12-year terms in N. Korea", CNN, June 8, 2009 Archived June 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  32. ↑ "North Korea jails US journalists". BBC News. June 8, 2009. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  33. ↑ Goldman, Russell (April 25, 2017). "Imprisoned in North Korea: The Cases of 3 Americans". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  34. ↑ Bosland, Katie; Netter, Sarah; Hinman, Katie (June 8, 2009). "U.S. Fighting North Korea Labor Camp Sentence for Laura Ling, Euna Lee". ABC News. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009.
  35. ↑ Foreman, William; Lee, Matthew (June 8, 2009). "Laura Ling, Euna Lee, US Journalists, Sentenced To 12 Years In North Korea". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009.
  36. ↑ Choe, Sang-hun (August 22, 2009), "In South Korea, Freed U.S. Journalists Come Under Harsh Criticism", The New York Times, archived from the original on December 18, 2012, retrieved August 24, 2009
  37. ↑ "Ling Sisters Recount Laura's Capture In North Korea". NPR.org. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  38. ↑ "North Korea: 2 US journalists pardoned". Associated Press. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on August 8, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  39. ↑ "Winners of the 66th Los Angeles Area Emmy® Awards Announced" (PDF). emmys.com. Television Academy. July 26, 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  40. ↑ Biography Archived December 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine ; Discovery News; November 12, 2014
  41. ↑ "UGA Grady College honors former Current TV reporters with McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage - UGA Today". UGA Today. March 30, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  42. ↑ "2014 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners". rtdna.org. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  43. ↑ "2016 Gracies Gala Winners". All Women in Media. 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  44. ↑ Vanguard - IMDb , retrieved March 25, 2019
  45. 1 2 Wang, Cynthia (June 3, 2010). "Laura Ling Names New Baby for Her Sister and Bill Clinton". People.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  46. ↑ "Laura Ling on Instagram: "Good Morning, from Kai! (16 days old)"". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
Laura Ling
Chinese 凌志美
International
National
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.