More Power To You

By TAD BARTIMUS

Katie Couric's new $65 million contract with NBC to co-host the "Today" show for another four-and-a-half years has headlines asking, with a wink and a nod, "Is she worth it?"

This is not a question put to Tiger Woods, who is also at the top of his game.

By raising the issue, People magazine, among others, implied that perhaps Couric isn't worth it because -- nudge, nudge -- she's a woman. Then, the magazine knocked down its own illusion with effusive "Yes, she is" quotes from co-workers and friends.

The more relevant question is, is anybody worth it? How much income is enough? Too much? Does Couric perform a more valuable service than a New York City fireman, a teacher, an emergency room nurse? It's apples and oranges; Couric is big box office, which means big bucks for NBC and its shareholders. The more money she makes for the corporation, the more money her agent can get for her. Should she feel guilty about taking $65 million for being a morning show talking head? Would you?
That's what makes America so great -- everybody has an opinion.

Couric will avoid character damage for taking the money because -- let's be honest here -- she's giggly and cute. Never mind that she's also smart, educated and very good at her job, though it doesn't involve heavy lifting. The important thing is, she reminds us of our sister, even if we don't have one. Recent personal losses and her efforts to raise money for cancer research give us further reasons not to hold her wealth against her. Katie, we tell ourselves, isn't ambitious, she's just lucky.

The media brouhaha over CNN's morning blonde, Paula Zahn, is even simpler to grasp. A promotional ad, accompanied by what might have been the sound of a zipper being unzipped, touted Zahn's sex appeal as well as her fine mind. The ad was pulled because Zahn was "offended" and CNN chief Walter Isaacson reportedly was "outraged," but not before it accomplished its goal of spotlighting Zahn's wakeup news show. Zahn gets only $2 million a year, but it's a start.

Carleton "Carly" Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, was hailed as the "darling" of Silicon Valley when she took over the computer company two years ago. Stories about her professional savvy and prior corporate successes never failed to mentioned her good looks, considerable boardroom charm and supportive "house husband." Clearly impatient with such frivolous reporting, Fiorina was quoted as telling reporters, "I hope that we are at a point that everyone has figured out that there is not a glass ceiling."

Not yet. As she attempts to merge her company with Compaq Computer against the wishes of the heirs of the founders of Hewlett-Packard, there is media speculation about whether the Fortune 500's highest-ranking female CEO is "tough enough" to stay the course. If she fails, pundits wonder, will her corporate fall signal more failures by Fortune 500 female CEOs? (Counting Ms. Fiorina, there are only six -- 1.2 percent of the total.)

Would the same question be asked about other Fortune 500 male chief executives based on the colossal failure of Enron's Ken Lay, who earned $229.7 million just by exercising his stock options in the past three years? Of course not.

Betty Spence, president of the National Association of Female Executives, was quoted in The New York Times as saying: "The Enron collapse is a story about Enron. The Hewlett-Packard story is about Carly Fiorina."
While a few American women fly combat jets in Afghanistan this winter, the majority of their sisters back home are watching the latest hit movie, "Kate & Leopold," which has grossed $37 million in three weeks of release. The plot revolves around a modern, independent working woman is literally swept off her feet by an old-fashioned romantic hero, (miraculously arrived from two centuries ago) on a white horse.

The Cinderella mindset that this implies is so depressing I think I'll get my Barbie and take a nap.

© 2002 The Women Syndicate

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