At 8:07 a.m. MSNBC: Manafort “NYT: Paul Manafort and Fmr. Associate Rick Gates Told to Surrender to Fed. Authorities” CNN: Manafort “CNN: Paul Manafort to Turn Himself In To FBI Today” FOX: Clinton Investigation “Trump Urges Investigation of Dems, Clinton”

President Donald Trump is an avid viewer of Fox News and its morning program “Fox & Friends,” which is seen as offering more favorable coverage of the administration than other news outlets. His early morning tweets often reference coverage on the program.

The reasons behind his affection for the network and its flagship morning program were apparent on Monday, when Mr. Trump's campaign associates Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were indicted as part of the investigation by the special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The way each network covered the story – or avoided it – is a sign of how the media landscape has become ever more politicized in the Trump era. That is particularly true of Fox News.

How They Covered the Indictments

Fox News aired 25 minutes of indictment coverage in the first hour after news of the charges broke around 8 a.m. – just as attention would have surged. CNN and MSNBC, in contrast, aired at least an hour of nearly uninterrupted and ad-free coverage.

Covering the indictments Not covering the indictments Ad Each minute of airtime Cheeseburger emojis Newsweek Op-ed Halloween costumes American patriotism Dossier FOX CNN MSNBC 8 a.m. 8:30 a.m. 9 a.m. Covering the indictments Not covering the indictments Ad Each minute of airtime American patriotism Cheeseburger emojis Newsweek Op-ed Halloween costumes Dossier FOX CNN MSNBC 8 a.m. 8:30 a.m. 9 a.m. Covering the indictments Not covering the indictments Ad Halloween costumes Cheeseburger emojis Each minute of airtime American patriotism Newsweek Op-ed Dossier FOX CNN MSNBC 8:30 a.m. 9 a.m. 8 a.m.

Fox devoted much of its morning programming to other topics: the hamburger emoji, Halloween costumes and dubious actions by Democrats. One particularly long segment critiqued an essay in The Economist that asked if Americans over-romanticize the military. They also ran at least seven ad breaks.

While major network news channels claim to be unbiased, Americans see them as having political leanings. A survey from Pew Research Center found that Fox was more trusted by conservatives, while MSNBC was more trusted by liberals and CNN was considered somewhere in the middle. In their coverage, the channels tend to confirm their viewers' perceptions.

But during the hyperpolarized first year of this administration, the ways in which television networks cover the president are being deeply scrutinized – particularly as the investigation by Mr. Mueller draws closer to the White House. This climate seems to have offered ample opportunities for each network’s political perspective to become even more pronounced.

First Hour of Coverage Covering the indictments FOX 25 mins. CNN 57 MSNBC 60 1 min. 30 min. 60 min. First Hour of Coverage Covering the indictments FOX 25 mins. CNN 57 MSNBC 60 1 min. 30 min. 60 min.

Significant breaking news can sometimes subdue those leanings, as networks scramble to air whatever information they have on a mass shooting or hurricane. But in the case of political stories like this one, it seems newsworthiness can’t trump ideology.

In its morning coverage, Fox played down the indictment news in two ways. First, it cut away in the first few minutes to discuss a dossier, which was partly funded by the Democratic Party, that had leaked during the presidential campaign and included unverified allegations about Mr. Trump. They aired an interview that had already been shown half an hour earlier with the Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway in which she called for an investigation into the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Next, the network maintained a seemingly regular ad break schedule, running about 24 minutes of ads in the first hour of coverage. Other major networks did not break for ads until nearly an hour had passed, a common practice during major breaking news.

At 8:13 a.m. MSNBC: Manafort “Trump’s Fmr. Campaign Aides Paul Manafort & Associate Rick Gates Told to Surrender” CNN: Manafort “CNN: Paul Manafort to Turn Himself In To FBI Today” FOX: Advertisement Advertisement

At 8:41 a.m. MSNBC: Manafort “Paul Manafort Surrenders to FBI” CNN: Manafort “Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Indicted in Mueller Probe” FOX: Emoji Cheeseburgers “Emoji Cheeseburger Crisis at Google”

Reporting on the indictment continued, with only the occasional ad break, for the next hour on CNN and MSNBC, while Fox reported on North Korea and allegations of sexual misconduct against the actor Kevin Spacey – news that had gained steam after Mr. Spacey issued a widely criticized apology the previous evening.

Second Hour of Coverage Covering the indictments Not covering the indictments Ad Each minute of airtime Republican tax plan Kevin Spacey North Korea Kevin Spacey FOX CNN MSNBC 9 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 10 a.m. Second Hour of Coverage Covering the indictments Not covering the indictments Ad Each minute of airtime Republican tax plan Kevin Spacey North Korea Kevin Spacey FOX CNN MSNBC 9 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 10 a.m. Second Hour of Coverage Covering the indictments Not covering the indictments Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Ad Each minute of airtime Republican tax plan North Korea FOX CNN MSNBC 9:30 a.m. 9 a.m. 10 a.m.

Our data comes from the Internet Archive’s Television Archive, which tracks the text appearing on the lower-third portion of the screen, a feature that is called a “chyron.” The analysis tracks the text that appeared in the chyron during the start of each minute of airtime.

In certain moments during Monday morning’s coverage, it was possible to see how Fox’s lower-third text differed sharply from that of the other networks:

Several Moments When Chyron Topics Differed

MSNBC CNN FOX 8:10 Manafort NYT: Rick Gates is a Longtime Protégé and Junior Partner of Mr. Manafort NYT: Rick Gates is a Longtime Protégé and Junior Partner of Mr. Manafort Manafort CNN: Paul Manafort to Turn Himself In to FBI Today CNN: Paul Manafort to Turn Himself In to FBI Today Clinton Investigation Dem Rep: Doesn't Matter Who Paid for Dossier Dem Rep: Doesn't Matter Who Paid for Dossier 8:13 Manafort NYT: Rick Gates is a Longtime Protégé and Junior Partner of Mr. Manafort NYT: Rick Gates is a Longtime Protégé and Junior Partner of Mr. Manafort Manafort CNN: Paul Manafort to Turn Himself In to FBI Today CNN: Paul Manafort to Turn Himself In to FBI Today Baseball Bush 41 & Bush 43 Throw Out First Pitch Bush 41 & Bush 43 Throw Out First Pitch 8:19 Manafort First Charges in Special Counsel Investigation First Charges in Special Counsel Investigation Manafort Manafort Business Assoc. Rick Gates Told To Turn Himself In Manafort Business Assoc. Rick Gates Told To Turn Himself In OFA Rpt: OFA Gave $972K To Firm That Paid Fusion Rpt: OFA Gave $972K To Firm That Paid Fusion 8:26 Manafort Source: Paul Manafort Surrenders to FBI Source: Paul Manafort Surrenders to FBI Manafort Manafort Business Assoc. Rick Gates Told To Turn Himself In Manafort Business Assoc. Rick Gates Told To Turn Himself In American Patriotism Economist Questions Americans' Patriotism Economist Questions Americans' Patriotism 8:41 Manafort Two High-Level Trump Campaign Aides Indicted Two High-Level Trump Campaign Aides Indicted Manafort Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe ISIS and Prince George ISIS Threatens Prince George ISIS Threatens Prince George 8:42 Manafort Paul Manafort Surrenders to FBI Paul Manafort Surrenders to FBI Manafort Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe Emoji Emoji Cheeseburger Crisis at Google Emoji Cheeseburger Crisis at Google 8:55 Manafort Two High-Level Trump Campaign Aides Indicted Two High-Level Trump Campaign Aides Indicted Manafort Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe Newsweek Newsweek Under Fire for Op-Ed Newsweek Under Fire for Op-Ed 8:56 Manafort Manafort Under Investigation for Violations of Federal Tax Law & Money Laundering Manafort Under Investigation for Violations of Federal Tax Law & Money Laundering Manafort Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe Paul Manafort & Rick Gates Charged in Russia Probe Conservatives Op-Ed Takes Aim at "Loud Mouth" Conservatives Op-Ed Takes Aim at "Loud Mouth" Conservatives

Though it is far from the only possible way to evaluate news coverage, the chyron has become something of a touchstone for media analysts, being both the most obvious visual example of spin or distraction and the most shareable. Any negative coverage of the president usually prompts a flurry of tweets cataloguing the differences among networks in their chyron text. While CNN, MSNBC and the BBC are typically in alignment, Monday morning was a particularly stark example of how Fox News pushes its own version of reality.

To right-leaning media observers, the coverage by the other networks might seem equally troubling: does the Manafort indictment deserve an hour or more of uninterrupted airtime? On many stories, there could be legitimate differences in news judgment by editors and producers at competing news outlets, in turn leading to varying focuses in coverage.