Exploring Xenophobic Events through GDELT Data Analysis
Download as PPTX, PDF0 likes43 views
The document presents a student capstone project analyzing xenophobic events using GDELT data, emphasizing the need for a global tool to track such incidents against migrants. Key findings include case studies on the Alan Kurdi incident and a spike in media coverage surrounding a March 2021 shooting, highlighting negative media sentiment towards refugees. Future work aims to develop a dashboard for monitoring xenophobic violence and identifying hotspots and triggers of such outbreaks.
Exploring Xenophobic Events through GDELT Data Analysis
- 1. Exploring Xenophobic Events through GDELT Data Analysis Modeling and Simulation Student Capstone Conference 2023 Track: Data Science Himarsha R. Jayanetti, Erika Frydenlund, Michele C. Weigle Presented By: Himarsha R. Jayanetti Department of Computer Science, ODU Web Science & Digital Libraries Research Group @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL @oducs 1
- 2. Global Migration: Seeking Opportunities and/or Escaping Conflicts 2 https://unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/topics/refugees-migration.html
- 3. International Organization like UNHCR and IOM: Safeguarding Migration and Fighting Xenophobia 3 https://www.iom.int/ https://www.unhcr.org/us/
- 4. The Need for a Global Tool to Track Xenophobic Attacks on Migrants 4 https://acleddata.com/dashboard/#/dashboard https://www.xenowatch.ac.za/
- 5. We Used the GDELT 2.0 Database to Obtain the Data 5 https://www.gdeltproject.org/ Database Updates every 15 minutes and translates articles from around the world from 65 different languages into English. A massive dataset of online and TV and news reporting.
- 6. We Identified Three Key Tables in the GDELT Database ● Event table contains data about events happening globally. ● Event Mentions table each mention of the event in a news article or other source. ● Global Knowledge Graph (GKG) form an extensive interconnected network (events, context, actors, sentiment of the article, themes) 6 Event Event Mentions Global Knowledge Graph (GKG)
- 7. Relationship Among the Three Database Tables: Events, Event Mentions, and GKG 7 MentionIdentifier field to connect the Mentions table with the GKG table. A One-to-Many relationship between the GLOBALEVENTID in the Event table and the Event Mentions table.
- 8. We Used Google BigQuery to Collect Data 8 https://cloud.google.com/bigquery GDELT users can access the data using BigQuery, which uses SQL-like queries. GDELT database is a large, open-source database and is supported by Google. A simple query to get 10 GLOBALEVENTIDs of event data from the Event table
- 9. We Used Two Separate Data Collection Criteria Criteria 1: Events where Actor2Code is REF. Criteria 2: Events where Actor2Code is REF AND has Refugee related GKG themes Eight GKG themes relevant to refugees: • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_XENOPHOBIA • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_ANTIIMMIGRANTS • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_OPPOSED_TO_IMMIGRANTS • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_AGAINST_IMMIGRANTS • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_ATTACKS_ON_IMMIGRANTS • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_ATTACKS_AGAINST_IMMIGRANTS • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_XENOPHOBE • DISCRIMINATION_IMMIGRATION_XENOPHOBES 9 Actor2Code is REF is indicative of Actor 1 performing the act on ‘refugee’. These eight themes were named as the “GKGthemes_REF”.
- 10. We Conducted Two Case Studies Case Study 1: Alan Kurdi Incident. ● September 2015 ● Alan and his family (refugees from Syria) ● Travel to Europe from Turkey ● Lost life by drowning in the Mediterranean Sea Case Study 2: Spike in Number of Articles in March 2021. ● A surge in the number of articles in March 2021. ● 1st hypothesis: due to spa shooting in Atlanta, GA. ● GDELT API to gain insight into the data before querying for the data itself. 10 We downloaded the data six months before and after the incident (March 2015 to March 2016) where Actor2Code is REF. We downloaded the data for March of 2021 where Actor2Code is REF and the theme was one in the “GKGthemes_REF” set.
- 11. GDELT DOC 2.0 API To Query the GDELT Database 11 https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/doc/doc?query=xenophobia &mode=artlist&maxrecords=100×pan=1week ● Full text search API ● Search back to Jan 2017 ● Search across 65 languages ● Instant Visualizations ● Support JSON output https:/blog.gdeltproject.org/gdelt-doc-2-0-api-debuts/ Queried on April 18, 2023
- 12. We Used the GDELT Doc API Python Client to Fetch Data From the GDELT API 12 https://github.com/alex9smith/gdelt-doc-api 1. Article search ● A list of news articles that match the filters. 1. Timeline ● A timeline of the volume of news coverage matching the filters (number of articles and a total).
- 13. Percentage of Number of Articles with Refugee Related Themes From January 2017 to December 2022 13
- 14. Case Study 1 Alan Kurdi Incident 14
- 15. Alan Kurdi's Tragic Death Sparks Global Media Attention on Refugee Crisis 15
- 16. AvgTone of the News Articles Remained Consistently Negative Over Time 16
- 17. Case Study 2 Spike in Number of Articles around March 2021 17
- 18. Number of Articles Over Time for March, 2021 Data 18
- 19. Top 20 Most Prevalent Actor1CountryCode 19
- 20. Choropleth Map to Visualize the Location-Based Data 20
- 21. Future Work ● Develop a dashboard to monitor xenophobic violence against refugees and migrants. ● Developing impactful visualizations that can aid us in addressing the following: ○ Identify xenophobic “hotspots” ○ Identify when xenophobic outbreaks are escalating ○ Triggers of Xenophobic Violence 21
- 22. Key Takeaways 22 ● Understanding xenophobic events ● GDELT database ● BigQuery and GDELT APIs to access GDELT data ● Case Study 1 ○ The period surrounding the death of Alan Kurdi ○ Increase in media attention ○ Mostly negative sentiment ○ A shift in the range of emotions ● Case Study 2 ○ March 2021 spike ○ Increase of African migrants on the Canary Islands ○ A choropleth map for the location-based analysis.