Laura Ling to Host New E! Show
Laura Ling
TV journalist Laura Ling, who was held in North Korean captivity last year, will host a one-hour news show on E!, The New York Times reports.
Set to premiere Dec. 8 and a departure from the network's gossip-heavy fare, E! Investigates will explore more serious issues. The first two episodes will focus on teen suicide and the lives of military wives.
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"I don't know if I can be all things, but I want to be a lot of different things for the young people who watch E!" Ted Harbert, chief executive of E!'s parent company, Comcast, told the Times.
Future episodes will revolve around famous missing persons cases and lottery winners.
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"The fact that E! is committed to this type of show — that they believe that their audience is just as interested in watching substantive programs that cover substantive issues as they are in watching the Kardashians — is thrilling to me because I've always been trying to reach a younger audience," Ling said.
Ling, 33, left Current TV last year after being released from North Korea, where she and fellow reporter Euna Lee were detained in March 2009 after crossing the North Korean border while on assignment. They were pardoned in August 2009 after former President Bill Clinton visited the country's leader, Kim Jong Il.
Laura Ling names baby after sister and Bill Clinton
Ling, the younger sister of Lisa Ling, has a 4-month-old daughter named Li Jefferson, whose middle name is a tribute to the ex-president.
Will you watch E! Investigates?