Popular culture (commonly known as pop culture) is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the late 20th and early 21st century. Heavily influenced by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society.

Popular culture is often viewed as being trivial and dumbed-down in order to find consensual acceptance throughout the mainstream. As a result, it comes under heavy criticism from various non-mainstream sources (most notably religious groups and countercultural groups) which deem it superficial, consumerist, sensationalist, and corrupted.

The term "popular culture" was coined in the 19th century or earlier to refer to the education and general "culturedness" of the lower classes, as was delivered in an address at the Birmingham Town Hall, England. The term began to assume the meaning of a culture of the lower classes separate from (and sometimes opposed) to "true education" towards the end of the century, a usage that became established by the interbellum period. The current meaning of the term, culture for mass consumption, especially originating in the United States, is established by the end of World War II. The abbreviated form "pop culture" dates to the 1960s.

Definitions

There are multiple competing definitions of popular culture. John Storey, in ''Cultural Theory and Popular Culture'', discusses six definitions. The quantitative definition of culture has the problem that much "high culture" (e.g. television dramatizations of Jane Austen) is widely favoured. "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what high culture is. However, many works straddle or cross the boundaries, e.g. Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. Storey draws attention to the forces and relations which sustain this difference such as the educational system.

A third definition equates pop culture with Mass Culture. This is seen as a commercial culture, mass produced for mass consumption. From a Western European perspective, this may be compared to American culture. Alternatively, "pop culture" can be defined as an "authentic" culture of the people, but this can be problematic because there are many ways of defining the "people". Storey argues that there is a political dimension to popular culture; neo-Gramscian hegemony theory "... sees popular culture as a site of struggle between the 'resistance' of subordinate groups in society and the forces of 'incorporation' operating in the interests of dominant groups in society." A postmodernist approach to popular culture would "no longer recognize the distinction between high and popular culture".

Storey emphasizes that popular culture emerges from the urbanization of the industrial revolution, which identifies the term with the usual definitions of 'mass culture'. Studies of Shakespeare (by Weimann, Barber or Bristol, for example) locate much of the characteristic vitality of his drama in its participation in Renaissance popular culture, while contemporary practitioners like Dario Fo and John McGrath use popular culture in its Gramscian sense that includes ancient folk traditions (the commedia dell'arte for example).

Popular culture changes constantly and occurs uniquely in place and time. It forms currents and eddies, and represents a complex of mutually interdependent perspectives and values that influence society and its institutions in various ways. For example, certain currents of pop culture may originate from, (or diverge into) a subculture, representing perspectives with which the mainstream popular culture has only limited familiarity. Items of popular culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of the public.

Institutional propagation

The news media mines the work of scientists and scholars and conveys it to the general public, often emphasizing elements that have inherent appeal or the power to amaze. For instance, giant pandas (a species in remote Chinese woodlands) have become well-known items of popular culture; parasitic worms, though of greater practical importance, have not. Both scholarly facts and news stories get modified through popular transmission, often to the point of outright falsehoods.

Hannah Arendt's 1961 essay "The Crisis in Culture" suggested that a "market-driven media would lead to the displacement of culture by the dictates of entertainment." Susan Sontag argues that in our culture, the most "...intelligible, persuasive values are [increasingly] drawn from the entertainment industries", which is "undermining of standards of seriousness." As a result, "tepid, the glib, and the senselessly cruel" topics are becoming the norm. Some critics argue that popular culture is “dumbing down”: "newspapers that once ran foreign news now feature celebrity gossip, pictures of scantily dressed young ladies... television has replaced high-quality drama with gardening, cookery, and other “lifestyle” programmes [and] reality TV and asinine soaps," to the point that people are constantly immersed in trivia about celebrity culture.

In Rosenberg and White's book ''Mass Culture'', MacDonald argues that "Popular culture is a debased, trivial culture that voids both the deep realities (sex, death, failure, tragedy) and also the simple spontaneous pleasures... The masses, debauched by several generations of this sort of thing, in turn come to demand trivial and comfortable cultural products." Van den Haag argues that "all mass media in the end alienate people from personal experience and though appearing to offset it, intensify their moral isolation from each other, from the reality and from themselves."

Critics have lamented the "replacement of high art and authentic folk culture by tasteless industrialised artefacts produced on a mass scale in order to satisfy the lowest common denominator." This "mass culture emerged after the Second World War and have led to the concentration of mass-culture power in ever larger global media conglomerates." The popular press decreased the amount of news or information and replaced it with entertainment or titillation that reinforces "fears, prejudice, scapegoating processes, paranoia, and aggression."

Critics of television and film have argued that the quality of TV output has been diluted as stations pursue ratings by focusing on the "glitzy, the superficial, and the popular". In film, "Hollywood culture and values" are increasingly dominating film production in other countries. Hollywood films have changed from creating formulaic films which emphasize "shock-value and superficial thrill[s]" and the use of special effects, with themes that focus on the "basic instincts of aggression, revenge, violence, [and] greed." The plots "often seem simplistic, a standardized template taken from the shelf, and dialogue is minimal." The "characters are shallow and unconvincing, the dialogue is also simple, unreal, and badly constructed."

Folklore

Adaptations based on traditional folklore provide a source of popular culture. This early layer of cultural mainstream still persists today, in a form separate from mass-produced popular culture, propagating by word of mouth rather than via mass media, e.g. in the form of jokes or urban legend. With the widespread use of the Internet from the 1990s, the distinction between mass media and word-of-mouth has become blurred.

Although the folkloric element of popular culture engages heavily with the commercial element, the public has its own tastes and it may not embrace every cultural item sold. Moreover, beliefs and opinions about the products of commercial culture spread by word-of-mouth, and become modified in the process in the same manner that folklore evolves.

Self-reference

Owing to the pervasive and increasingly interconnected nature of popular culture, especially its intermingling of complementary distribution sources, some cultural anthropologists, literary, and cultural critics have identified a large amount of intertextuality in popular culture's portrayals of itself. One commentator has suggested this self-referentiality reflects the advancing encroachment of popular culture into every realm of collective experience. "Instead of referring to the real world, much media output devotes itself to referring to other images, other narratives; self-referentiality is all-embracing, although it is rarely taken account of." Furthermore, the commentary on the intertextuality and its self referential nature has itself become the subject of self referential and recursive commentary.

Many cultural critics have dismissed this as merely a symptom or side-effect of mass consumerism; however, alternate explanations and critique have also been offered. One critic asserts that it reflects a fundamental paradox: the increase in technological and cultural sophistication, combined with an increase in superficiality and dehumanization.

Long-running television series ''The Simpsons'' routinely alludes to mainstream media properties, as well as the commercial content of the show itself. In the episode "Bart vs. Thanksgiving", Bart complains about the crass commercialism of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while watching television. When he turns his head away from the television, the screen shows an oversized inflatable balloon of Bart Simpson floating past.

According to television studies scholars specializing in quality television, such as Kristin Thompson, self-referentiality in mainstream American television (especially comedy) reflects and exemplifies the type of progression characterized previously. Thompson argues shows such as ''The Simpsons'' use a "...flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show." Extreme examples approach a kind of thematic infinite regress wherein distinctions between art and life, commerce and critique, ridicule and homage become intractably blurred.

See also

Cultural icon

Fads

High culture

Low culture

MTV Generation

Pop art

Pop icon

Popular culture studies

Trash culture

Notes

References

Ashby, LeRoy. "The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch," ''OAH Magazine of History,'' 24 (April 2010), 11–14.

Ashby, LeRoy. ''With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture since 1830'' (2006)

Bakhtin, M. M. and Michael Holquist, Vadim Liapunov, Kenneth Brostrom. (1981) ''The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays'' (University of Texas Press Slavic Series). Ed. Michael Holquist. Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin and London: University of Texas Press.

Browne, Ray B. and Pat Browne, eds. ''The Guide to U.S. Popular Culture'' (2001), 1010 pages; essays by experts on many topics

Burke, Peter. "Popular Culture Reconsidered," ''Storia della Storiografia'' 1990, Issue 17, pp 40–49

Freitag, Sandria B. "Popular Culture in the Rewriting of History: An Essay in Comparative History and Historiography," ''Peasant Studies,'' 1989, Vol. 16 Issue 3, pp 169–198,

Gerson, Stéphane. "'A World of Their Own': Searching for Popular Culture in the French Countryside," ''French Politics, Culture and Society,'' Summer 2009, Vol. 27 Issue 2, pp 94–110

Griffin, Emma. "Popular Culture in Industrializing England," ''Historical Journal,'' Sept 2002, Vol. 45 Issue 3, pp 619–35

Hassabian, Anahid (1999). "Popular", ''Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture'', eds.: Horner, Bruce and Swiss, Thomas. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-21263-9.

Seabrook, John. ''NoBrow : the culture of marketing the marketing of culture'', New York: A.A. Knopf, 2000. ISBN 0-375-40504-6

Storey, John (2006). ''Cultural theory and popular culture''. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-13-197068-7

Category:Media studies Category:Youth

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{{Infobox musical artist| | name = Lisa Hannigan | image = Lisa Hannigan deco16-10.jpg | caption = Lisa Hannigan in Temple Bar, Dublin | image_size = 200 | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Lisa Margaret Hannigan | alias = | birth_date = February 12, 1981 | origin = Kilcloon, County Meath, Ireland | genre = Indie folk | occupation = Musician | years_active = 2001–''present'' | label = Barp/ATO Records/Play It Again Sam | associated_acts = Damien Rice, Vyvienne Long, Tom Osander, The Frames, Mic Christopher, David Kitt, Herbie Hancock, Paul Noonan, David Geraghty, Bell X1, The Cake Sale, Gary Lightbody, Cathy Davey, Jason Mraz, Mick Flannery. At the age of eighteen, she enrolled at Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied art history. Hannigan enjoyed theater and auditioned for musicals as a teenager and was cast as Second Urchin in her school's production of ''My Fair Lady''.

Career

2001-2007

Hannigan began her six year collaboration with Damien Rice at a concert in the Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin in early 2001. “It was upsetting, but worse things have happened. For everybody it was coming to the end of its cycle.” She was comforted by members of The Magic Numbers and has not spoken to Rice since the split. In retrospect, Hannigan says the split was the best thing that has ever happened to her.

2008-present

Some of Hannigan's live recordings were made available through trading networks radio shows. These recordings included: "Willy" by Joni Mitchell, "Be My Husband" by Nina Simone (from the 1965 album ''Pastel Blues''), "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin and "Love Hurts" by Roy Orbison. Hannigan also performed live with her own band, called The Daisy Okell Quartet and contributed guest vocals to the recordings of Mic Christopher, The Frames and Herbie Hancock.

Lisa Hannigan's debut solo album, titled ''Sea Sew'', was rehearsed in a barn in Thomastown and recorded in Dublin before being released in Ireland in September 2008. The lead single, "Lille", was made available as a free Internet download and other tracks were available for preview on her Myspace page. The sleeve featured needle-work by Hannigan. Some music critics called the recording one of the best Irish albums of the year.

''Sea Sew'' was played on the American radio station KCRW and received favorable reviews in the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''The New York Times''. The single "Lille", released in August 2008 on Irish and American radio stations. Hannigan performed at Electric Picnic 2008. Hannigan supported singer-songwriter Jason Mraz on a 42-date U.S. tour in 2008.

Also in 2008, she appeared on the charity album ''Even Better Than the Disco Thing'' and performed a duet of Mick Flannery's new song "Christmas Past" with Flannery on Tony Fenton's Christmas Special on Today FM. In December 2008, she made her UK solo debut at St Johns Church in London. Hannigan signed with ATO Records in the U.S., where her album was released in February 2009.

''Sea Sew'' was nominated for the Choice Music Prize and Best Irish Album at the Meteor Music Awards in January 2009.

That same year, Hannigan appeared on the American television shows Jay Leno, The Colbert Report and was well received by their respective hosts. In 2009, Hannigan also appeared on the BBC's ''Later... with Jools Holland'', performing her song "I Don't Know". ''Sea Sew'' rose in the UK charts following this appearance and she performed at Glastonbury 2009 music festival and went on tour later in the year. She performed at the nomination ceremony and she was greeted by confused journalists wondering "Lisa who?".

Hannigan performed at Electric Picnic 2009 and Le Chéile. Later in 2009, she toured the United States with David Gray and performed solo shows in New York, Los Angeles and London. She then began a tour of Ireland to finish the year. Hannigan's song "Ocean and Rock" was used in a 2009 Irish video supporting same-sex marriage entitled "Sinéad's Hand".

In 2010, a broadcast of ''Other Voices'' was planned. Hannigan recently recorded her second album, titled ''Passenger'', at Bryn Derwen Studios in North Wales with producer Joe Henry and engineer Ryan Freeland. The album will be released in the US and Canada on September 20, and a month later in Ireland and the UK.

Reception

Her music has received critical praise, airplay and award nominations both in her native Ireland and the United States. In 2008, her debut album ''Sea Sew'' spawned the single "Lille", a Choice Music Prize nomination, two Meteor Music Awards nominations and a Mercury Prize nomination. There has also been praise from fellow musicians and, in recent times, Jools Holland of the United Kingdom and US television hosts Jay Leno and Stephen Colbert.

Hannigan emits "a moan of delicate strength, and stirring warmth and humanity", describing her style as that of "plinky plonk rock", a genre coined by a friend. She performs using "broken-down, wheezy old instruments", assisting her band members in the transportation of this equipment. Her blog posts are noted for containing recipes for baking cakes.

Hannigan also contributed to the 2009 charity album, ''Sparks n' Mind'', released in aid of Aware.

Discography

''Sea Sew'' (2008)

''Lille - EP'' (2009)

''Live at Fingerprints - EP'' (2009)

''Passenger'' (2011)

Awards

''Hot Press'' Readers' Poll

Hannigan has four ''Hot Press'' Readers' Poll awards. She won Best Debut Album, Best Irish Album, Best Irish Track and Best Female in 2009. The award was won by Jape for the album ''Ritual'' on 4 March 2009.

|- | 2009 || ''Sea Sew'' || Irish Album of the Year 2008 || |-

Meteor Music Awards

Hannigan and her work was nominated in the Best Irish Female and Best Irish Album categories at the Meteor Music Awards in 2009. She was the only solo artist nominated in more than one category at the awards. She lost to Imelda May and The Script's self-titled album respectively.

|- | 2009 || ''Sea Sew'' || Best Irish Album || |- | 2009 || Lisa Hannigan || Best Irish Female || |-

Mercury Prize

''Sea Sew'' was nominated for the Mercury Prize on 21 July 2009. It was Hannigan's first nomination; other Irish acts nominated before her included U2 Gemma Hayes, The Thrills and Fionn Regan. The identity of the award-winning album was confirmed as ''Speech Therapy'' by Speech Debelle on 8 September 2009 in London. Hannigan described the nomination as "an incredible honour" and "an amazing affirmation that people like your record". She also said she had "never been so excited about anything before".

Hannigan was referred to as 2009's "token folk nominee" in the UK, with the ''NME'', a music magazine in that country, calling her a "token folkie". One British journalist even claimed she was "truly obscure" and part of the "moribund sensitive singer-songwriter genre". Ed Power, writing in the ''Irish Independent'', criticised such claims, wondering if Jape (whose album ''Ritual'' beat Hannigan to the Choice Music Prize) had come close to receiving a Mercury nomination—"Or, for that matter, how many of the judges had even heard of him".

|- | 2009 || ''Sea Sew'' || Best Album || |-

See also

Side projects of Lisa Hannigan

References

External links

Official site

Official biography

Lisa Hannigan Refined an unofficial website

Lisa Hannigan on ''Other Voices''

Lisa Hannigan interview on LAist

Lisa Hannigan at Eskimo Friends, a Damien Rice site

Lisa Hannigan Review Fazer.ca March 2009

Mercury nomination photos at the ''Irish Independent''

Category:1981 births Category:Irish female singers Category:Irish folk singers Category:Living people Category:Alumni of The King's Hospital Category:People from County Meath

bs:Lisa Hannigan ca:Lisa Hannigan de:Lisa Hannigan es:Lisa Hannigan fr:Lisa Hannigan it:Lisa Hannigan nl:Lisa Hannigan pt:Lisa Hannigan fi:Lisa Hannigan sv:Lisa Hannigan zh:麗莎·漢尼根

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Matt Lauer
birthname	Matthew Todd Lauer
birth date	December 30, 1957
birth place	New York, New York, U.S.
education	Ohio University
occupation	Television journalist
years active	1979–present
gender	Male
spouse	Nancy Aspaugh (1982-1989; divorced) Annette Roque (1998-present)
children	Three
salary	$13,500,000 annually
credits	''Today'' co-anchor(1997–present)''Today'' news anchor(1994–1997)
url	http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3079110/ }}

Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer (born December 30, 1957) is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's ''The Today Show'' since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond. He was also host of ''PM Magazine'' (or "Evening Magazine" 1980-1986) and worked for ESPN in the 1980s as a sideline reporter. In the early 1990s, Lauer hosted segments of HBO Entertainment News.

Early life

He was born in New York, New York, the son of Marilyn Kolmer, a boutique owner, and Jay Robert Lauer, a bicycle-company executive. Lauer is of Romanian descent on his father's side, as seen on the Today Show's "Finding Our Roots." His parents divorced during his youth, and his father died in 1997. Lauer had become co-host of ''The Today Show'' replacing longtime host Bryant Gumbel in early 1997, not long before his father's death. In 1999, both Lauer and his cohost Katie Couric initially resisted participation in ''Today's'' proposed series about their family roots. The series turned out to be a hit, and Lauer was moved by what he learned about his immigrant ancestors. "My dad was Jewish. My mom is not. So I was not raised anything. I do feel a desire now to find something spiritual. Getting married and wanting to have kids has something to do with that."

Career

Lauer is a School of Media Arts and Studies (formally the School of Telecommunications) graduate of Ohio University. He attended Ivy Tech, but dropped out. In 1997, he received his undergraduate degree from Ohio University at the age of 39. He had dropped out of Ohio University's School of Telecommunications in the Spring of 1979. The university awarded him his remaining credits by counting his journalism experience as "independent study" towards his degree. Lauer began his television career in 1979 as a producer of the 12 o'clock news for WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia. By 1980, he had become an on-air reporter on the 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts. He then started to move around the country to further his career, hosting a number of weekly information and talk programs in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond. He was also host of ''PM Magazine'' from 1980-1986 and worked for ESPN in the 1980s. He worked on the show "Talk of the Town" during 1988.

Lauer got his first job in the New York area when he was hired to host a three-hour live interview program, WWOR-TV's ''9 Broadcast Plaza'', from 1989–1991. In 1990, he was hired by the Kushner-Locke Company to host a pilot called "Day In Court," executive produced by veteran producer David Sams, who helped to launch the ''Oprah Winfrey Show'' into national syndication. The program was retitled, "Trial Watch," when it went to series, and ran on the NBC network for two seasons. Ironically, NBC chose to hire Rob Weller, as host, over Lauer when the program was picked up as a daily series. Lauer moved to WNBC-TV in 1992 where he became co-anchor, alongside Jane Hanson, of the early weekday news show ''Today in New York''. After a year, he also filled the role of ''Live at Five'' co-anchor with Sue Simmons. He held that job until 1996.

NBC News

Lauer's broad on-camera presence provided him with many opportunities with NBC's national news organization while working for WNBC in New York. Lauer filled in as the newsreader on ''The Today Show'' for Margaret Larson when needed from 1992 to 1993. This "audition" period allowed him to join ''The Today Show'' full-time in January 1994 as news anchor, while still co-anchoring ''Today in New York'' and ''Live at Five''.

Lauer stepped in for Scott Simon, Mike Schneider and Jack Ford as the co-host of ''Weekend Today'', and for Ann Curry as anchor of the former NBC News program ''NBC News at Sunrise'' from 1992 to 1997. He had also filled in for Tom Brokaw on ''NBC Nightly News''. As the ''Today Show'' news anchor, he also pinch-hit for Bryant Gumbel on the ''Today Show'' before being named the official co-anchor on January 6, 1997, after Gumbel stepped down.

In addition to his duties on the ''Today Show'', Lauer has also hosted programming on the Discovery Channel and MSNBC.

Career highlights

Beginning in 1998, Lauer has embarked on a once-yearly five-day globe-spanning adventure called "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?" on the ''Today Show''. It was named after the PBS game show ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' from which it borrowed the theme song. This segment has sent Lauer to the far reaches of the Earth where he has reported on the importance of each location. In recent years, he has broadcast from locations including Bhutan, Easter Island, the Panama Canal, Iran, Hong Kong, Croatia, and the Great Wall of China. For 2009 NBC announced this popular segment would not be airing because of the country's economy.

On some occasions, interviews conducted by Lauer have escalated into tense exchanges. In a June 2005 interview, Tom Cruise started an argument with Lauer about psychiatry and postpartum depression and called Lauer "glib". In December 2008, three and a half years later, Cruise said that he regrets the exchange, and even playfully arm-wrestled Matt Lauer in the same studio where the confrontation took place.

In a June 2006 interview with Ann Coulter, Coulter responded to Lauer's questioning her criticism of September 11, 2001, widows and said, "You're getting testy with me." On December 30, 2009, during an on-set Birthday Party for him, Lauer introduced "Barney Miller" and "Fish" TV star Abe Vigoda who was standing behind the cameras. Lauer then warmly invited Abe to come over and sit on the couch where Lauer announced that Abe Vigoda was his favorite guest of all times on the "Today" show. The two then discussed Matt's Birthday and Abe's long career.

In November 2006, Lauer and his daughter Romy hosted the Sesame Street direct-to-DVD Sesame Beginnings: Exploring Together.

Lauer hosted ''The Greatest American'' on the Discovery Channel, which used Internet and telephone voting by viewers to select the winner. Lauer was critical of his own program since it tended to favor well-known figures over others who had less influence in pop culture. Since 1998, he has co-hosted NBC's live coverage of ''Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade''.

Lauer guest-starred as himself on a live episode of ''Will & Grace'' in early 2006. (Former co-anchor Katie Couric had guest-starred as herself on an episode of the same NBC sitcom a few years earlier.)

On June 19, 2007, he interviewed Prince Henry and Prince William of Wales.

Lauer served as the 2009 Class Day speaker at Harvard University's undergraduate commencement ceremonies on June 3, 2009.

Matt Lauer appears as himself in the ''Land of the Lost'' movie, appearing in the beginning when Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) appears on his show and single-handedly ruins his career. Lauer appears again at the end of the film, when Rick shows up with his new book, ''Matt Lauer Can Suck It''. Both scenes ended in violent physical confrontation between the two, with the staff trying to break them up. The first confrontation was caused by Marshall and the second by Lauer after Marshall gloats how his new book's title was legally acceptable.

Lauer has also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. He has broadcast with Bob Costas the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer and 2010 Winter Olympics, carrying what his former co-host Katie Couric had done since the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Career timeline

1989–1991: ''9 Broadcast Plaza'' host September 1992–September 1994: ''Today in New York'' co-anchor August 1993–September 1996: early evening newscast ''News Channel 4''/''Live at Five'' co-anchor June 13, 1994–January 3, 1997: ''Today'' news anchor January 6, 1997–present: ''Today'' co-anchor

Personal life

Lauer was married from 1982 until 1989 to a television producer named Nancy Alspaugh. The marriage ended in divorce. From 1989 until 1996, he dated Kristen Gesswein, a television newscaster. They were briefly engaged. In 1998, he married Annette Roque, a Dutch model known as "Jade." She appeared in one of Revlon's 1991 ads, "The Most Unforgettable Women in the World Wear Revlon," along with the ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit cover girl Daniela Pestova and supermodel Elaine Irwin, who was married to John Mellencamp. During Roque's pregnancy with their third child in 2006, she and Lauer separated. Although Roque filed for divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court on September 13, 2006, the couple subsequently reconciled.

References

External links

MSNBC bio

Matt's Video Blog

TV schedule for Talk of the Town

Video of Talk of the Town

Video and Transcript of George Bush interview

Category:1957 births Category:American television reporters and correspondents Category:American television news anchors Category:Boston, Massachusetts television anchors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Harvard University people Category:American people of Romanian descent Category:Living people Category:NBC News Category:New York City television anchors Category:New York television reporters Category:Ohio University alumni Category:People from Greenwich, Connecticut Category:People from New York City

fr:Matthew Todd Lauer pt:Matt Lauer fi:Matt Lauer fa:مت لاور