NBC Analyst Admits Receiving Tech Payola

By Ed Oswald | Published April 20, 2005, 3:40 PM

Details of a payola scheme by NBC tech analyst Cory Greenberg surfaced Wednesday, in which he was receiving upwards of $15,000 a piece from technology companies to positively promote their products on NBC's Today Show. The news underscores an emerging trend of questionable review practices, both online and off.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, Apple, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Seiko Epson, Creative Technology, and Energizer all had at one time paid Greenberg for his services.

Greenberg denied any actual wrongdoing, saying that companies looked to him as "a spokesperson who could talk credibly and understandably about consumer products." However, he said he would no longer take payments to promote products on television.

Following the report, NBC official said the company was not aware of the situation, and since has changed policies to ensure a similar incident does not happen again.

The subject of journalists receiving outside money for product reviews and endorsements has become an issue in recent months, and not only in tech.

In January, it was revealed that Armstrong Williams, a prominent African-American conservative commentator, received $240,000 from the Department of Education to promote the No Child Left Behind Act on his television and radio appearances.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

This happens all the time. Lets say a company pays for a whole lot of advertising in a consumer computer magazine. This magazine then gives an "award" to the company. The company gets increased sales, spends more on advertising..

I have seen this happen.... get over it.

Score: 0

|

As if we needed ANOTHER reason not to trust the Main Stream Media. I guess the best that can be said is at least it's not CBS.

Score: 0

|

and you know why not cbs, cause in general all you C is BS

Score: 0

|

you know it would really be dirt if it was a PBS station, then i'd go :O - But NBC, CBS, ABC come on their all big business, and money is more valuable then integrity. So someone got caught with their pants down while trying to put on a "journalistic" act when in reality was a shameless plug. Wont be the last time and it certainly wont be limited to NBC. Next time they will just be more careful not to let it leak out and we'll all watch in wonder at the amazing networks' unbiased journalism and go OOOOO! just like we always do.

Score: 0

|

Just think of it as an Audio-Popup for TV. The real story is that someone didn't get paid an overwhelming amount of money to run the AD and therefore they need to slap his hand. He must be somebody, because he did not get canned.

It is all about where the money is going.

Score: 0

|

Google Chrome 4: Yes, it's fast, but is it usable?

As Betanews readers have responded to our stories about Chrome's JavaScript superiority...Does that mean we'd actually use this browser? Well...

Video: Netflix on PlayStation 3

Netflix has come to the PlayStation 3 via Blu-ray and BD-Live.

Verizon Wireless launches new Android, Chocolate, and ruggedized phones

The lower-priced Eris joins the Droid, while the Chocolate gets a touchscreen and more music playback.

Early sales figures for Windows 7 nicely high, but do we know why?

Fans of triple-digit surges in figures quoted by Betanews will love this one, as it appears Microsoft rediscovered how to pull off a software launch.

Myka announces its latest Linux-based 'net top box'

Myka's ION brings Boxee, XMBC, and much more to HDTVs.

What hath Mac wrought? A remembrance after a quarter-century

The reason there's a Macintosh today is not because of some brilliant flash of engineering genius, but because Apple had the audacity to learn from its mistakes.

Early build of Moblin 2.1 improves connectivity, but not device support

The Linux Foundation's Atom-centric OS yesterday received a major overhaul with the project release of Moblin 2.1 for netbooks and nettops.

The iPhone's China syndrome: Sales of 5,000 and climbing

There's actually a country where Apple's device is not a godsend, where sales can be measured in the dozens.

New European counterpart to FCC will ensure 'a more neutral net'

Late Thursday night, the ruling telecom administrators of the EU's member nations signed away their final authority to a new entity overseen by the EC.

Sophos study suggests Windows 7 UAC's default setting is self-defeating

Without any anti-virus installed, a Sophos test showed, User Account Control was only capable of thwarting just one malware package out of ten samples chosen.

Indiscreet tweet trips awareness of Web SSL vulnerability

A group of high-level security engineers had been making progress on thwarting a low-level threat to the Web, until somebody blurted it all out on Twitter.