claim: Fox News didn't report breaking political news about the indictment of Paul Manafort and instead ran coverage of controversy involving a cheeseburger emoji.
origin: Â 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 â€” Roberto Ferdman (@robferdman) October 30, 2017 > < Manafort indictment being discussed on CNN and MSNBC, Fox covering cheeseburger emojis. #TrumpRussia #BenedictDonald â€” 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 â€” photopab (@PhotoPab) October 30, 2017 > It didnâ€™t take long for the claim to take root as a literal assessment of Fox Newsâ€™ 30 October 2017 programming schedule during breaking, high-interest political news: < When news of Manafortâ€™s charges dropped Fox & Friends turned to the â€œcontroversialâ€ cheeseburger emoji https://t.co/uUuPbKsmCs @AndrewKirell â€” Sam Stein (@samstein) October 30, 2017 > The Twitter timeline for @FoxAndFriends told a different story. Tweets concurrent with the showâ€™s on-air reporting centered heavily on Manafortâ€™s indictment â€” and we were unable to find any linking to content about a â€œcheeseburger emojiâ€: < .@JonathanTurley: #MuellerMonday is like the Academy Awards in Washington of whoâ€™s in the indictment envelope pic.twitter.com/seXBfP8wgf â€” 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 â€” FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) October 30, 2017 > < Report: Paul Manafort, Rick Gates to surrender to special counsel https://t.co/iPPXwscjHD â€” 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 â€” 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 toÂ debunk the story: < But did theÂ famously Trump-friendlyÂ news network really fail to report Manafortâ€™s indictment in favour of Googleâ€™s apparent emoji cheeseburger crisis? The answer, unfortunately for Hannity-haters everywhere, is no. As this clip from this morningâ€™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 updatesâ€¦. 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 showâ€™s comprehensive coverage of the Manafort news.