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. [more]
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