Lisa Ling

Imagine it is the early 1990's, and an eager young woman boards a flight to Afghanistan to deliver a report on an on-going, intense civil war. Finding a balance between school work, a social life, and a part time job is what most young adults concern themselves with. However, this student spends her time juggling classes at USC, with her job as a war correspondent for a news outlet for students called Channel One. This young woman was Lisa Ling, who was born on August 30th 1973, and who began her career as a journalist at age sixteen. She has spent much of her career covering dangerous stories, and even as an eighteen year old on Channel One, and she has persisted in being devoted to honesty and kindness. For a hero to be heroic, they must devote themselves to truth and kindness. A hero must dedicate themselves to honesty, so they may keep others knowledgeable of the world around them. But a hero cannot spread the truth if they do not understand it, so a hero must also be empathetic. Lisa Ling is heroic because of her compassion for the people whom she investigates, and her dedication to the truth of those broadcasts.

Despite them leading vastly different lives from her own, Lisa Ling conveys kindness to each individual she profiles. Ling faces horrible, fearsome situations, but she continually demonstrates warmth to the subjects of her reports. Ling described her intentions for her show, Our America With Lisa Ling, as a call for kindness by saying "...when you watch these shows, I hope that you will walk away with a little more compassion for these people" (Morabito). Ling accepts nearly every type of person, from drug addicts to criminals, all thanks her boundless tolerance for other people. However, if she cannot accept them, she does not condemn them for their actions. She understands how some may not make the same choices as her, so she does not seek to persecute or humiliate them on television. Lisa Ling knows that the progression of mankind could occur if people understood one another. Additionally, Ling participates in volunteer work while urging similar actions from others, because she believes "...so passionately in volunteering locally- there's such a need" ("Lisa Ling"). She helped start iVolunteer.org; an organization that connects people with local volunteering opportunities (Lohman). She also helped start The Secret Society of Women, which "was created... to offer women a confidential community to freely share thoughts and advice, and in doing so, to learn from each other" (SSOW ' HOME). Ling repeatedly demonstrates empathy for those who appear on her shows, and that care translates into real life. Lisa Ling recognizes the importance of altruism in a culture filled with hate, so she pushes her audience to extend such kindness towards the rest of humanity.

My hero is Lisa Ling because of her sensitivity and her devotion to honesty when covering a segment. She never twists the reality of a segment, and she remains compassionate to each individual who she profiles. Lisa Ling confronts issues from all over, occasionally while endangering her own life, in an attempt to tell the stories of those who are not powerful enough to tell them on their own. I have always been interested in helping people, but I have been not been sure how. I admire Lisa Ling, because I would like to provide the same power for others who cannot speak up for themselves. Similarly, I want to offer a sense of comfort for those people, just like her. She treats the subjects of her reports with the respect they deserve, because they are not just elements of an entertaining anecdote. Ling inspires her audience to take action for a cause they believe in. Because she trusts that knowledge and empathy for others can heal the wounds left by heartlessness and ignorance. Even since the 1990's, the news has not changed much. We see cynicism and defeat on every news channel, so it is natural to become downhearted by all the anguish around us. However, if every journalist portrayed the honesty and empathy as that eager reporter from Channel One, we might be able to better understand the world around us.