My wife was watching an episode of Oprah last night. Oprah was talking to investigative reporters. She mentioned Lisa Ling, and I immediately recognized the name as the girl that was on The View. I had to watch to see this cute little asian girl as an 'investigative' reporter.

She's done some pretty hardcore stuff. From her Bio:
For Channel One, Ling hunted down cocaine processing labs in the Colombian jungle, conducted interviews with members of a notorious guerrilla group in Colombia, was flanked by 12 bodyguards while reporting on the civil war in Algeria, covered the refugee crisis in Albania and shared tea with the Dalai Lama. In 1996, she participated in a joint investigation with Time magazine into a Russian company accused of smuggling nuclear weapons. She was the first American television reporter to ever interview the company’s owner. All told, she reported from more than two dozen countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, Algeria, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Japan, India and Iran, and produced eight documentaries for PBS, several of which won awards.

The piece she was on Oprah for concerned the street gang MS-13, which is quickly becoming the 21st Centuries version of the Mafia...only not as nice. They have chapters all over the world, and they are the fastest growing gang in the U.S.A. They recruit children as young as age 8.

Lisa Ling went to a prison in El Salvador where the MS-13 gang pretty much rules everything. Apparently, there was a plan to kidnap Ling and her crew when they entered the prison. They went back to the prison a few days later and the guy she was interviewing told her that if they didn't want her to leave, she wouldn't leave. Simple fact.

Now I don't know if she was really in danger of being kidnapped, but the fact that she went into the prison knowing that was a possibility is pretty brave. I don't think that if she was held hostage she would escape without some form of sexual assualt. The special is airing on February 12th on The National Geographic Channel. I don't get that channel, but you might want to check it out if you do.