Apple paid tech guru $15K to praise iPod on local news shows (Updated)

Tech editor Corey Greenberg was paid $15,000 by Apple Computer to feature Apple products during local news appearances, but insists he was not paid to show the same products during appearances as NBC's "Today" show tech editor.

Greenberg said he has received payments from Apple as well as Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Seiko Epson, Creative Technology and Energizer Holdings, after his private contracts were disclosed in a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Greenberg reportedly charged the companies $15,000 apiece to talk up their products on local news shows. However, Greenberg insists he never took payment to place a product on the news. "I have never accepted payment to place a product on NBC News," he told the Washington Post. As for other news shows, "I have never accepted payment to say nice things about a product in any venue."

On Tuesday afternoon, Greenberg clarified his business pacticies, saying he featured Apple and non-Apple products on local television stations as part of a demonstration in which he has been financially paid. In a conversation with the Mac Observer, he said in those instances, the local stations have the opportunity to let viewers know he has been paid to show the products, but in many cases, the stations opt to not shared that information with its viewers.

Last July Greenberg appeared on the "Today" show and praised the iPod as as "a great portable musical player . . . the coolest-looking one" and suggested a compatible device to "share your music with other people."

"This is the way to go," he declared.

Last month, Greenberg was on "Sunday Today" to talk about "the coolest thing," Apple's iPhoto service for digital pictures: "All the information goes up to Apple, Apple sends you a week later this perfect beautifully bound book."

While NBC officials say they were unaware of Greenberg's financial relationships, Greenberg later told The Washington Post that since becoming a "Today" contributor in 2000, "I've made NBC aware of my outside work. . . . I've been aboveboard with NBC."

He said manufacturers hired him as "a spokesperson who could talk credibly and understandably about consumer products," but has since halted his practice of accepting payment for appearances on local shows.