Media

Verizon agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle Federal Communications Commission charges that it violated customers’ privacy when it used a hidden undeletable number to track cellphone users. In the settlement, Verizon also agreed to make its unkillable “zombie” cookie opt-in, meaning that users are not tracked by default. Previously, users had been tracked by default unless they opted out.

World tennis was stunned last month by allegations of widespread match-fixing, as well as the utter failure of the game’s authorities to deal with the underhanded practice. In a blockbuster investigation called The Tennis Racket, by BuzzFeed data reporter John Templon and BuzzFeed UK investigations editor Heidi Blake, the journalists drew on evidence from leaked files showing that 16 tennis players (who at some point have been ranked in the top 50) have been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit for suspicions they had thrown matches or arranged for their opponent to lose.

Online advertising is big business and sites that depend on it are getting really “creative” in using social media to drive traffic to their pages. If they can dangle some fluff piece with a lurid headline and make you click on it (or better, share it!), then the site can raise ad rates and generate more income. But what happens if not enough people share your content? A whole family of “satire news” sites is hiring paid trolls to drop links on every Facebook page and group they can find.

Though the announcement of TIME magazine's 'Person of the Year' designation isn't until next month, it was reported on Monday that the leading contender—at least among the magazine's readership—is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the Democratic presidential candidate calling for a 'political revolution' with his grassroots-driven campaign against establishment candidate Hillary Clinton.

The editors of The Contributor recently threw gas on the flames of America’s racial unrest with yet another irresponsible headline: “Jamar Clark: 5 Fast Facts you need to know.” Problem is, only two of their statements are facts (that have nothing to do with guilt or innocence) and the rest are allegations and/or speculation.

Yesterday was Daily Kos’s 13th anniversary. We’ve come a long way in those 13 years—from a one-man operation to one of the biggest, most-trafficked news sites on the internet—bigger even than the websites of the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CBS News, ABC News, and NBC. At our current pace, we will pass Drudge Report, the kingpin of conservative online media, sometime this year! But our work’s not done yet, and we need your help to stay up and running for the next 13 years.

In November, Rolling Stone’s investigative piece “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA,” by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, had the journalistic community abuzz. Last week, the Columbia Journalism Review declared it “a failure that was avoidable.”

Bill O’Reilly simply cannot stop lying. First it was his lies about being in a “war zone” in the Falklands. Next it was his lies about seeing nuns “gunned down in El Salvador.”

Andrew Sullivan Retires: Why You Should and Should Not Care - Our thoughts on Andrew Sullivan quitting blogging...

The only way for libertarians to convince themselves that Net Neutrality is a good idea? Convince everyone that Comcast and Verizon are cute mom and pop shops with their customers' best interests at heart.