NEWS
Greenberg telecasts live from Madison, lectures students
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by Michelle Orris
Friday, November 14, 2003
“Today Show” travel editor Peter Greenberg telecasted his travel tips live from the University of Wisconsin television station Thursday and lectured in classes and seminars.
Greenberg broadcasted a four-minute piece live from Vilas Hall Thursday afternoon for CNBC, working with an earpiece that would not transmit directives from his producers just minutes before the segment.
Speaking without notes, Greenberg told viewers his skeptical thoughts about United Airlines’ new cheap alternative — called “Ted.” He said he did not need notes on the air because of his thorough homework beforehand, suggesting that anyone could talk in front of a camera about subjects they know in depth.
“I’m only as good as my last appearance,” Greenberg said to the class.
Greenberg told journalism students about his investigative travel reporting, relating an incident before Sept. 11, 2001, in which he successfully sent five pseudo-bomb bags through airport security on American Airlines.
Greenberg said he filled cheap bags with toy bombs and grenades and wrote something to the effect of “Security Alert: please check this bag” in reverse writing that could be detected by x-ray scanners. He sent the bags covered in orange tape through the baggage claim but never boarded the planes. All five bags reached their target destinations, and hidden cameras revealed they were never opened despite airline managers’ claims that such a feat would be impossible at their terminals.
Greenberg is still lobbying today for a policy that would match bags with passengers on all flights.
When pressed by students for advice about future job opportunities, Greenberg advised them to specialize their writing in the area that interests them most, calling the current day “an age of specialization.”
He also told students never to settle for the status quo as an explanation for questionable policies and urged them to always push management to justify their stances. He used the Bush administration as an example of officials who have used their power as justification for their actions.
In addition to regular appearances on the “Today Show” and NBC affiliates, Greenberg is the chief correspondent for the Travel Channel and writes an online column for msnbc.com. He is also author of the New York Times bestseller “The Travel Detective.”
