Changes in social media coverage of police during the 2017 phoenix Trump rally
David H.F. Tyler, Edward R. MaguirePurpose
Social media provides a valuable framework for understanding public sentiment on social issues and institutions, including the police. This paper investigates changes in the salience of (i.e. the proportion of tweets referencing police) and sentiment toward the police during the 2017 Phoenix Trump rally, an event where police deployed less-lethal weapons against protesters, journalists and onlookers without warning.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on tweets posted during the rally, we conducted descriptive analyses and applied micro-level interrupted time series models to examine shifts in both the salience of and sentiment toward the police throughout the event.
Findings
Analyzing over 440,000 tweets, we found a 226% spike in police salience after police used force against the crowd. This coincided with a significant rise in negative sentiment and an immediate and prolonged decline in positive sentiment toward police.
Originality/value
The findings offer insights into the impact of police actions on public discourse and expressed sentiment on social media.