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Help find the facts amidst the Twitter madness! Gorilla Kumbuka escaped from the London Zoo. While the keepers are looking for the gorilla, can you find out what's happening on Twitter?

Gorilla On The Loose!

Strange as it may sound, this is a fact! How do we know?  
First we look at the author/account. We see its the BBC News - an established British news network. To confirm it is really the BBC we look into the account to see what other stories they report on and if the account is verified.   
In the tweet itself we pay attention to frasings like: 
"... have stated ...". This is a neutral way of communicating and doesn't play up emotions.

FACT

Is this tweet a fact, opinion, rumour or guess?

NoMoreZoos states an opinion. How do we know?   
First, the account name reflects their position: No More Zoo's.  
Second, in the tweet we read: "... we think ..."

OPINION

How do we know this is factual?   
Like the BBC account, we also checked @ZSLLondonZoo. Turns out it is the verified account of the zoo where Kumbuka the gorilla escaped from.   
Furthermore, the language used in this tweet is neutral and informs us unbiased.

We're already halfway there! Keep haning in there Sherlock.  
In this tweet @GorillaNewsUK is just guessing. This is stated already at the start of the tweet with: "I reckon ... "   
Besides that, you may ask yourself how objective an account is 'Gorilla News UK'. Do you think there is that much gorilla news in the United Kingdom?

GUESS

Ok @JimBOB, hold your horses (or should we say: gorillas) 
You can't just tweet everything that you hear without having the information first hand or at least checked it with riliable sources.   
It could very well be that Jim means no harm and wants to warn people in the neighbourhood of the zoo. But tweets like this could cause more confusion and unnecessary panick!

RUMOUR

Lucy voices her opinion. 
Why do we know this?...   
Exactly! By her use of words. She says "I feel sorry ... ", 'If I was ... " and "I'd want ..."

There goes @JimBOB again...   
We now already know JimBOB a bit and we doubt if he states us facts. 
In his tweet he says "Apparently..." giving us a big clue that JimBOB is spreading rumours. 
We can confrim this by looking at his use of words and how this message makes us feel. "... smashed through his den and escaped! Gorilla on the rampage!" is inciting language and not objective.

This is the @ZSLLondonZoo again. Remember? We verified earlier if this is the real account of the zoo.   
The tweet uses neutral language and gives us specific details of the events.

Don't give up now, it's very good you tried! 
You didn't got everything right but with these tips you'll be a fact checking Sherlock in no time!   
\- Try to find author/source 
\- See if other media (newspapers, TV, etc.) also report about the same thing 
\- Look out for spelling mistakes and dramatic punctuation
\- Make sure an article is current
\- Check for quotes from experts that support the claims of the story
\- Do a reverse image search
\- Find out what the purpose of the news story is
\- Think about how the story makes you feel. Check your own biases and emotional reaction. If the story infuriates you or makes you feel smug about your beliefs, it may not be a balanced source of information
\- Look for other works by the author
\- Get to know the publisher's point of view
\- Watch for strange URLs, sloppy website design and other red flags. A suspicious news website may have an unusual URL that tries to mimic a legitimate news source
\- Check the publisher's ads
\- Remember that titles are attention-getters. The title does not always say what the article discusses.
\- Look for articles on the topic published by other news organisations.
\- Ask someone you know who is an expert on the subject.
\- Consult fact checkers. In addition to reputable news sources, there are a number of websites that debunk fake news stories. If you come across a suspicious story, see if it has been vetted by sites such as: https://www.snopes.com/

We have a little work to do

Hey hey look at you! Perhaps you were wrong a few times, but in general you did a good job! 
We have some tips so you can score full points next time:   
\- Try to find author/source 
\- See if other media (newspapers, TV, etc.) also report about the same thing 
\- Look out for spelling mistakes and dramatic punctuation
\- Make sure an article is current
\- Check for quotes from experts that support the claims of the story
\- Do a reverse image search
\- Find out what the purpose of the news story is
\- Think about how the story makes you feel. Check your own biases and emotional reaction. If the story infuriates you or makes you feel smug about your beliefs, it may not be a balanced source of information
\- Look for other works by the author
\- Get to know the publisher's point of view
\- Watch for strange URLs, sloppy website design and other red flags. A suspicious news website may have an unusual URL that tries to mimic a legitimate news source
\- Check the publisher's ads
\- Remember that titles are attention-getters. The title does not always say what the article discusses.
\- Look for articles on the topic published by other news organisations.
\- Ask someone you know who is an expert on the subject.
\- Consult fact checkers. In addition to reputable news sources, there are a number of websites that debunk fake news stories. If you come across a suspicious story, see if it has been vetted by sites such as: https://www.snopes.com/

Not too bad at all

YES YOU ARE! Well done! You proven to be a true research master!   
No tweet passes you by without a critical inspection. That's the way we like it <3  
You are fully capable to spread the message of critical thinking. And to help you spread this message we wrote some tips down:   
\- Try to find author/source 
\- See if other media (newspapers, TV, etc.) also report about the same thing 
\- Look out for spelling mistakes and dramatic punctuation
\- Make sure an article is current
\- Check for quotes from experts that support the claims of the story
\- Do a reverse image search
\- Find out what the purpose of the news story is
\- Think about how the story makes you feel. Check your own biases and emotional reaction. If the story infuriates you or makes you feel smug about your beliefs, it may not be a balanced source of information
\- Look for other works by the author
\- Get to know the publisher's point of view
\- Watch for strange URLs, sloppy website design and other red flags. A suspicious news website may have an unusual URL that tries to mimic a legitimate news source
\- Check the publisher's ads
\- Remember that titles are attention-getters. The title does not always say what the article discusses.
\- Look for articles on the topic published by other news organisations.
\- Ask someone you know who is an expert on the subject.
\- Consult fact checkers. In addition to reputable news sources, there are a number of websites that debunk fake news stories. If you come across a suspicious story, see if it has been vetted by sites such as: https://www.snopes.com/

Research Master!

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Gorilla On The Loose!

https://www.theguardian.com/newswise

Gorilla On The Loose!

https://www.theguardian.com/newswise

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