Lisa Ling has been named a contributor at CBS News, and will offer reporting and feature pieces across the division’s broadcasts and platforms. She will come on board this summer and be based in Los Angeles. 

Ling has spent more than eight years as the executive producer of This Is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN. She was also behind the six-part HBO Max documentary series Take Out that came out last year.  

“Lisa delivers some of the most authentic, human and revealing interviews because of how she embeds with communities and the people she covers,” Neeraj Khemlani, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations, said. “It gives her and us a chance to communicate the pulse of the country and the world in a more experiential way. From war coverage at Channel One News to the anchor table at The View to numerous cable series that showcase her immersive journalism, Lisa Ling is a multi-talented reporter and storyteller that we are thrilled to add to our roster of world-class network talent.” 

Before CNN, Ling spent six years as the executive producer and host of Our America at OWN. She was also host of National Geographic Ultimate Explorer. Previously, Ling was a co-host on ABC’s The View for three years and contributed to ABC’s Nightline. She started at Channel One News.  

“I can’t think of a better home for my style of reporting than CBS News, given its tradition of exceptional news gathering and thoughtful storytelling,” said Ling. “I’m honored to be working with this venerable organization to tell the stories of people behind the headlines whose voices need to be heard.” 

Ling is also the co-author of Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home with her sister, Laura, and co-author of Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood with Joanne B. Eicher. 

HBO Max has ordered six-part docuseries Take Out, which sees Lisa Ling look into the lives of the people who run some of America’s 45,000-plus Asian restaurants. Ling produces and hosts. 

“Asian restaurants representing the diverse people and cuisines of the continent are as ubiquitous as McDonald’s, and each one of them has a unique and compelling story,” goes the description. “Lisa explores the storied and complicated journey of the Asian community, past and present, at a critical time, while zig-zagging the country celebrating the joy that the little white take-out box can bring.” 

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Take Out is produced by Part2 Pictures, with Ling and David Shadrack Smith executive producing. 

“With Take Out, we will pay tribute to the hard work and countless contributions of Asian Americans whose restaurants helped shape the cultural tapestry and cuisines of America,” said Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max. “Lisa is one of a few storytellers who could paint the trials and triumphs of a community as told through the lens of a restaurant.”

Part2 Pictures is also producing the eighth season of This Is Life With Lisa Ling, which airs on CNN. 

“It is time that we learn about a community that has been integral to America’s development but has largely been ignored by American history,” said Ling. “My own family’s path to their American dream started in a Chinese restaurant, and I cannot wait to learn the stories of those whose journey paralleled mine throughout different parts of this country.” 

Smith called Take Out “a chance to join Lisa on an especially personal exploration – and build on our long relationship together delving deep into the dynamics of America through the people that make it diverse and complex.”

Former Time Warner chairman and CEO Richard Parsons is one of several journalists and executives being honored at the Nov. 11 Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association (MMCA)’s virtual Multicultural Media Correspondents Dinner.

The 5th annual dinner, which honors media industry legends and luminaries of color, will also honor journalist Lisa Ling, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Jacky Rosen, NPR host Maria Hinojosa, journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Revolt TV’s Detavio Samuels, said the media diversity organization. 

Comedians Kym Whitley and Sherri Shepherd will host the event. 

“We are beyond thrilled with the level of engagement and support the MMCD has received in just its fifth year,” said David Morgan, MMCA president said in a statement.

AT&T’s upcoming streaming service HBO Max has signed correspondent Lisa Ling to an overall talent deal and greenlit a travel series that will focus on births, weddings and funerals.

Each episode of the series--Birth, Wedding, Funeral--will take viewers to a different country and look at how it culture deals with these key rituals.

“We are living in a deeply polarized world and I am elated for the opportunity to bring us closer to one another through stories about the most defining moments in people’s lives: their Births, Weddings and Funerals,” said Ling.

The concept for the show was created by former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre.

“Over the course of my many travels, I have always welcomed the chance to learn about the world's varied cultures through how they experience life’s most intimate and transformative benchmarks,” said Rather. “I am thrilled that Lisa, a skilled and compassionate storyteller, will bring these moments into our homes and allow us to renew our faith in the common bonds of humanity.”

Ling is host of This is Life with Lisa Ling, currently in its sixth season on CNN, part of AT&T. As part of her new overall deal, HBO Max will have a first look at new projects she develops.

The series is being produced by Part2 Pictures, with Ling executives producing along with Rather and Philip Kim for News and Guts.

“As part of the CNN family, Lisa has carved out a unique space for herself using her style of gritty, investigative journalism to drive at the heart of every human story she tells,” said Jennifer O’Connell, executive VP, original content, HBO Max. “Birth, Wedding, Funeral takes audiences on a global journey through a range of societies, exploring the rituals around three critical life events and we are eager to bring this illuminating storytelling to our HBO Max audience.”

Veteran journalist Lisa Ling will launch her new series 'This Is Life' on CNN this Sunday (Sept. 28) at 10 p.m. (ET) Ling, who recently finished a five-season run with OWN for her Our America With Lisa Ling series, recently spoke to me about her new CNN series as well as her perceptions of 24-hour news network. Ling also shares her thoughts on the progress of female broadcast journalists on television. An edited version of the interview appears below.

R. Thomas Umstead: What message are you looking to covey through This Is Life?

Lisa Ling: I’m someone who believes that the more we know each other the more evolved we are as people. This show is an exploration of the many worlds that exist within our world and the subcultures that exist in our own back yard. My hope is that people will come to the show with an open mind and be prepared to be provoked and to think, and that really stimulating conversations will be ignited from watching the show.

RTU: What is it about these American subcultures that fascinate you so much?

LL: I have always been an intrinsically curious person, and I’ve always been fascinated by people whose lives are different from mine. I feel like as a result of familiarizing myself with different kinds of people and different kinds of cultures around the world I really feel like I’ve become a better person and a more well-versed and compassionate person. I really hope this series will do the same for the audience. As a culture we’re predisposed to harboring a lot of preconceived ideas about people, and as you watch these shows I hope that you might be provoked to think differently.

RTU: Do you think that being on CNN as a news network will better help expose these subcultures than being on an entertainment-based network?

LL: I think that CNN is the perfect home for this show. To be honest with you CNN is the one network that I’ve watched consistently and constantly since the Gulf War – it’s always on in my house and I’ve always wanted to be on CNN, but I’ not a breaking news correspondent. Now that they’re doing these incredible original series I feel like I’ve found the perfect home. The work that I do and the show that we produce is no less journalistic than any other show on the network.

RTU: Has CNN’s move toward more original, unscripted programming changed your perception of CNN?

LL: My perception and feelings toward CNN haven’t changed at all. I think that there is room to do different kinds of programming, and again my show is no less journalistic – it’s just not breaking news, although the topics I cover are certainly topical. I know that CNN will never abandon news when it is breaking but there are times when there are lulls, and I think it’s important for CNN to expand and  be the home for other provocative series.

RTU: Is there a possibility that at some point you might be able to expand your relationship with CNN and do more content on the breaking news side of the business?

LL: I hope so. I truly hope that this is a very long and substantive relationship that I’m now forging with CNN.

RTU: Did anything surprise you during the filming of the This Is Life episodes?

LL: What I love about what I do is I get surprised every time I leave home and immerse myself in a different world. I’m surprised because I, like everyone else, have a perception of what people are going to be like, and inevitably as soon as I hit the ground I learn new things and I come away a smarter person as a result of familiarizing myself in a different world. Our first episode is a prime example: it’s called “Sugar Daddies, Sugar Babies,” and it’s about older, moneyed men who seek out younger women and younger women who maybe seeking out older men to pay for their college tuition. You might immediately have an opinion about both the men who do this and the women who do this, but I guarantee that if you watch this episode, you will be taken in different directions. In the end you might well think differently than you initially thought.

RTU: Today there are a number of prominent female journalists on television including you. Is the industry finally moving in the right direction in terms of hiring and showcasing female journalists on television?

LL: While there has been a lot of progress in the way of having more women in broadcast journalism, I still think that we have a long way to go. I think there is still quite a large disparity between men and women on air journalists and I still think more needs to happen.