Matt Lauer has been in the news the last couple of days — not just for his high-profile interviews with the sister of a duchess and an Olympic gold medalist — but for the way he phrased a question to General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Thursday: whether she can “do both well,” being a CEO and a mom. CNN, HLN and Fox News pounced, debating Lauer’s question. Lauer himself responded on Facebook.
I referenced this Forbes article where [Mary] Barra talked about the challenge of balancing work life and home life. It’s an issue almost any parent including myself can relate to. If a man had publicly said something similar after accepting a high-level job, I would have asked him exactly the same thing.
One of the commenters to the Facebook post was Joann Muller, who wrote the Forbes article. “I, too, am a working mother and Mary Barra and I have a lot in common. I never felt compelled to ask if a ‘mom’ could handle being CEO, because I already knew the answer. Of course, she could.”
What do you think?
Lauer’s full response after the jump…