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| - Conservative news did not make a meal of a silly emoji story about cheeseburgers instead of covering the federal investigation into alleged Russian election tampering.
The indictment of Paul Manafort on 30 October 2017 trended across Twitter (with hashtags like #HappyIndictmentDay), as did a related meme suggesting that Fox News instituted a blackout of the political development in favor of reporting the same news carried on competitors MSNBC and CNN:
Paul Manafort just agreed to turn himself in to the FBI. What should we report on?
CNN: Manafort
MSNBC: Manafort
Fox News: Hamburger emoji pic.twitter.com/Wjsvkb2coW
— Roberto Ferdman (@robferdman) October 30, 2017
Manafort indictment being discussed on CNN and MSNBC, Fox covering cheeseburger emojis. #TrumpRussia #BenedictDonald
— Becky Powers (@WildwoodFlower7) October 30, 2017
Manafort turns himself in 2 FBI. CNN: Manafort top story. MSNBC: Manafort breaking news. FOX: but where should cheese go on a cheeseburger?? pic.twitter.com/cG1eOQNmA5
— photopab (@PhotoPab) October 30, 2017
It didn't take long for the claim to take root as a literal assessment of Fox News' 30 October 2017 programming schedule during breaking, high-interest political news:
When news of Manafort’s charges dropped Fox & Friends turned to the “controversial” cheeseburger emoji https://t.co/uUuPbKsmCs @AndrewKirell
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 30, 2017
The Twitter timeline for @FoxAndFriends told a different story. Tweets concurrent with the show's on-air reporting centered heavily on Manafort's indictment — and we were unable to find any linking to content about a "cheeseburger emoji":
.@JonathanTurley: #MuellerMonday is like the Academy Awards in Washington of who’s in the indictment envelope pic.twitter.com/seXBfP8wgf
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) October 30, 2017
During the apex of general coverage (at 8:18 AM EST and after), @FoxAndFriends tweeted:
FOX NEWS ALERT: Reports say Paul Manafort to turn himself in today pic.twitter.com/SjtjeinqCN
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) October 30, 2017
Report: Paul Manafort, Rick Gates to surrender to special counsel https://t.co/iPPXwscjHD
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) October 30, 2017
However, Fox was not the only major news network to cover the cheeseburger emoji controversy on the same day the indictment made headlines:
Cheeseburger Emoji Debate: Apple vs. Google https://t.co/6ofKjsKAja #DigCommSU
— Erin Devost (@ErinDevostPR) October 30, 2017
Although it appears that the meme began as a joke about Fox News covering a cheeseburger emoji controversy in lieu of the topical events surrounding Paul Manafort, it quickly became something people on social media believed was literally the case.
Independent fact-checking site Shooting the Messenger moved quickly to debunk the story:
But did the famously Trump-friendly news network really fail to report Manafort’s indictment in favour of Google’s apparent emoji cheeseburger crisis?
The answer, unfortunately for Hannity-haters everywhere, is no.
As this clip from this morning’s Fox & Friends shows, the bulk of airtime was spent in anticipation of the indictment, with the emoji story briefly appearing to pad out the show between updates....
The story later made an appearance as part of a brief news round-up that aired immediately before a commercial break.
By comparison, CNN also covered the emoji debate, yet Twitter focused on the early morning show's comprehensive coverage of the Manafort news.
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