Discovery's 'Border Live' Will Give Real-Time Look at One of the Hottest Topics Today

Life at the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the hottest topics in the news today, and the Discovery Channel plans to tackle in a totally new way through its show Border Live.

The six-part multiplatform series debuts Wednesday, Dec. 5, airing from 9-11 p.m. ET, and will give a live look at law enforcement's work on the U.S.-Mexico border as well as life of the people who live there.

Prior to the show's premiere, investigative reporter Lilia Luciano, an investigative reporter at TEGNA's ABC10 in Sacramento, California, talked with PopCulture.com about her role on the show, as well as surprising perspective she hopes to provide viewers with during the series.

Luciano, during her time on the show, is spending time with people living along the border in communities where people have traditionally legally crossed the border frequently to visit family, work and live.

"It's a special place that brings together all kinds of people," she said of her time on the border. "Lot of cultures clashing. We have hippies, we have people who have been there for generations, you have hunters now because it's hunting season starting. Obviously you have migrant families who've been there also for a long time. And there's these humanitarian anchors, and people who are committed to helping, people who come through the desert, who are crossing the border, and have to make that dangerous trek through the desert."

Complicating matters are emerging militias, Luciano added, which has added aspects of conflict to the peaceful town.

"I think the intention is to bring people close to what life is like, actually, along the border," she said. "And especially concerning the people who were or are in some way impacted by what happens in that cross-border flow."

Presenting the show live, Luciano explained, offers "a lot of transparency and trust" in what the network is presenting.

"I think that the thing with this show is we're not trying to send a message," she said. We're just trying to present the reality of the people who live, and work, and survive along the border. So in a way I'm excited, because it's not a news show."

The veteran reporter continued, "I certainly have worked in news organizations my whole life that are completely unbiased. But I think the public these days has kind of that suspicion or doubt, and I think with Discovery Channel, it makes me and journalists, this brings an opportunity to work within a platform where I think people know and trust that we're not trying to present something as something else. We're just really trying to show you what it's like, and bring you as closely and intimately as possible to be in reality."

Border Live premieres Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 9-11 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Photo credit: Discovery