Categories: OLD Media Moves

Biz media chase new GM CEO

Mary Barra, the first woman to lead a major global automaker, has a press corps following like no other executive, reports Tom Krisher of the Associated Press.

Krisher writes, “Barra, who officially becomes General Motors’ CEO on Wednesday, was pursued by about 100 reporters and photographers after GM swept car and truck of the year awards at the Detroit auto show Monday.

“Two large bodyguards and public relations handlers fended off the throng that chased her to the Cadillac exhibit, where she did a television interview. During the pursuit, one cameraman tripped over a couch and another ran into a post.

“A security guard said he hadn’t seen as large of a gaggle since former CEO Rick Wagoner was pursued as GM was headed toward bankruptcy in 2009.

“‘You guys have rocketed her to superstar status overnight,’ incoming GM North America president Alan Batey told reporters at the show.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.