No, the BBC didn’t change its website banner to black before Queen Elizabeth II’s death

NO: The BBC did not change the banner on its homepage from red to black in preparation for Queen Elizabeth II's passing. YES: The standard banner on the BBC homepage has long been black, while the standard banner on the BBC News homepage is red.

NewsLit takeaway: Major breaking news events result in a flood of information. As everyone rushes online to share updates, speculate about recent developments and post jokes, criticism and hot takes, it creates a confusing landscape to navigate. When this claim was shared on social media, many people (including a couple members of the News Literacy Project) accepted this rumor as fact because it seemed intuitively true. Remember to pause and critically examine the claims on your feed before amplifying posts that could potentially spread false information.

• Related: 
  • “Queen Elizabeth’s life and death on front pages around the world” (Kristen Hare, Poynter).
  • “How Wikipedia’s ‘Deaditors’ Sprang Into Action on Queen Elizabeth II’s Page After Her Death” (Jody Serrano, Gizmodo).

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was not an ‘American Idol’ contestant

NO: This is not a video of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene auditioning for the first season of “American Idol.” YES: This video features singer Stefanie Sugarman and her unsuccessful audition during the show’s first season.

NewsLit takeaway: Confirmation bias often causes people to uncritically embrace falsehoods that support their existing views. In this case, some critics of Greene may have accepted this false claim without pausing to raise questions about its authenticity simply because they wanted it to be true, since it provided an opportunity to mock the Georgia congresswoman. If they would have examined this message a bit more closely, they may have noticed a few red flags:

• The claim was made without evidence. Anyone can add a caption to a video and claim it shows something that it does not. No links were provided to any sources that could support the claims in this tweet.
• This video was posted by a politically partisan account. While that does not by itself mean the claims are false, content from clearly biased sources should cause readers to pause. Was this message posted to score political points or was it posted to relay factual information?

Beyond these red flags, there’s also the fact that Greene would have been 27 years old in 2001 — three years older than the age limit to audition for “American Idol” at that time. Greene’s spokesperson told Lead Stories that the woman in the video “doesn’t look like [Greene] and obviously isn’t her.”

Photo of ‘devastated’ King Charles III was taken days before Queen Elizabeth II’s death

NO: This photograph does not show King Charles III’s reaction to news that his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has passed away. YES: This is a genuine photograph of Charles that was taken on Sept. 4 as he left a church service.

NewsLit takeaway: It is easy to get caught up in the moment during a breaking news event. As we try to keep up with the flood of information in our social media feeds, it’s tempting to take things at face value so we can keep scrolling. When a photograph of a devastated-looking Charles started circulating after news of Elizabeth’s death, many accepted it as genuine because it was poignant and because it just felt true. When an image is paired with a claim, especially during a major event, it’s natural to perceive a connection.