Journalist Laura Ling touched on life topics that rose during her time in captivity in North Korea during her speech to students and faculty Wednesday night.
Ling spoke about lessons she learned as she dealt with hope, love and compassion while held prisoner under Kim Jong Il's dictatorship.
Ling took the stage with applause from the mixed demographic audience at Pruis Hall.
Ling, the host of E! Entertainment's TV show "E! Investigates" and a former field reporter for CNN and ABC News, was taken captive by the North Korean government in 2009 when she and fellow journalist Euna Lee were taken prisoner by soldiers on the North Korean/Chinese border.
She was sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by the North Korean judicial system for her crimes of being a journalist and sneaking onto North Korean soil. Former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea to urge Kim Jong Il to release Ling and Lee from captivity.
She spoke of how she hoped the day would come soon when she would be released from prison and could see her family again.
Ling discussed her work and what it really means to bring the story to the public. She said being a journalist is not only to inform people about what's happening around the world, but it's also to move them.
She continued her presentation by showing a short, 10-minute video of her work in geopolitical hotspots around the world. Her work covered topics such as the militant overture of the government in Myanmar, women's rights Turkey and the ongoing drug wars in Mexico.
The video was a collage of not only her work from the areas but also the stories from the people who were most affected by what was happening at that time, such as the people who were oppressed or even killed by another group.
Ling said it's easy to see how quick those who are well off society can forget about the things in life that can really make the difference to someone else, and forgetfulness can soon lead to the dark things in life that often lead to hate, war and death.
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