The Renegade Reporters by Elissa Brent Weissman

Author:Elissa Brent Weissman [Weissman, Elissa Brent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2021-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Investigators Create Fake Person, Account

It was Maya who came up with the theory. It was Brielle who pointed out that even if it was right, they didn’t have any hard proof. It was Ash who thought of a way to get that proof: Create a new Van Ness Media account and fill it with specific information. If Van Ness Media was selling that information to other companies, the computer they used to create the account would soon be filled with ads for things their fake person had mentioned.

So, the very next day, the Renegade Reporters gathered again, this time at Brielle’s house, to create a fake account. The frightened Maya from the day before seemed to have been swapped overnight with a confident, determined Maya. She brought Dev’s old laptop, which he agreed to let them use for the investigation. “He reformatted it before he left for college,” Maya said, “so it doesn’t have any of his personal information on it. But he said that before we create the account, we should still”—she checked a page of handwritten notes—“use a new browser, and clear the cookies.”

“Clear the cookies!” Ash said. “Where are they? I’ll eat them.”

“Not real cookies,” Brielle explained as she set up the browser according to those instructions. “Digital cookies. They’re little text files that websites put on your computer. But now I want real cookies too. We have some Berger cookies downstairs.”

Ash’s stomach rumbled at the thought of Berger cookies, specifically the thick layer of fudgy icing that topped them.

“Focus,” Maya said, placing a steady hand on the anchor’s shoulder. “We can have Berger cookies at lunch. After we prove our theory.”

“My mom said she’d order pizza too,” Brielle said.

Pizza and Berger cookies? Ash could barely wait.

“The lighting and sound are good,” Maya said.

“And the browser’s ready,” Brielle said, stepping away from the laptop.

“Cool.” Ash rubbed her hands together. “Let’s do this.”

The editor positioned herself behind the camera and assumed her directorial voice. “Footage for the fake account in three . . . two . . .”

The anchor looked at the camera. “We’re creating our fake Van Ness Media account on this laptop. It was completely reformatted, so there’s no personal information on it. In order to make sure ads aren’t targeted using old searches, we’re using a new browser that we just installed on this computer. As an extra precaution, we cleared the cookies.”

Proud of herself for keeping a straight face about cookies, Ash turned to the laptop. She opened the browser, went to the Van Ness Media software page, and clicked on log in to begin creating. “Here’s the welcome screen,” the anchor said, pointing. “New users click here.” The next screen listed all the programs you could access with your Van Ness Media account, along with prices for individuals and links to information for schools. “It’s a good thing they offer new users a one-week free trial. We don’t have much of a budget here at The Underground News.”

The editor rolled her eyes. The videographer tried not to giggle.

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