name: inverse layout: true class: center, middle, inverse --- #Lynching in the Press Michael Weaver Yale University April 8, 2016 --- template:inverse
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*New York Times*. 5/7/1886 --- template:inverse
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*The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune* 1/15/1931 --- template:inverse ##How did this take place? --- --- template:inverse ##Publicity and Technology --- layout:false .left-column[ ## Argument ###Publicity ] .right-column[ ###Turn of the century... saw massive expansion of - transportation networks (railroads) - communication networks (telegraph) - news services (e.g., Associated Press) ] --- template:inverse
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--- .left-column[ ## Argument ###Publicity ] .right-column[ ###Turn of the century... saw massive expansion of - transportation networks (railroads) - communication networks (telegraph) - news services (e.g., Associated Press) ... which made the country smaller - reduced travel times for people and information - created a public eager for national news ] --- .left-column[ ## Argument ###Publicity ] .right-column[ ###Turn of the century... saw massive expansion of - transportation networks (railroads) - communication networks (telegraph) - news services (e.g., Associated Press) ... which made the country smaller - reduced travel times for people and information - created a public eager for national news ###Publicity of lynchings has greater reach ] --- .left-column[ ## Argument ###Publicity ###Criticism ] .right-column[ ###Wider public Breaking news of lynchings free from locality: 1. Loss of control over narrative 2. New audiences unsympathetic to lynchers 3. No ability to coerce critics Lynching events could become national scandals ] --- template:inverse ##How do we test this? --- template:inverse ##The data --- .left-column[ ##Data ###Newspapers ] .right-column[ ###"Big data" meets history Digitized historical newspaper archives * More than 3,000 different papers * Nation-wide coverage * Big-city dailies, small town weeklies * 8 million+ issues between 1880 and 1940 * Searchable content * 1.2 million articles explicitly mention lynching ] --- template:inverse ##Newspapers in sample over time
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--- .left-column[ ##Data ###Newspapers ###Railroads ] .right-column[ ###Railroad networks * Yearly data from 1880 and 1900 (1911?) * Period of rapid growth (more than doubles) * Network centrality of counties * Travel time between counties ] --- template:inverse
--- template:inverse ##The findings --- .left-column[ ## Results ] .right-column[ ###Three implications The probability that a lynching is reported in a newspaper: 1. **increases** as distance **decreases** between the lynching and the paper. ![check][] ] [check]:http://servepapers247.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Checkmark-Red.png --- class: center, middle Probability of lynching mention by distance
--- .left-column[ ## Results ] .right-column[ ###Three implications The probability that a lynching is reported in a newspaper: 1. **increases** as distance **decreases** between the lynching and the paper. ![check][] 2. **increases** as travel times **decrease** between the lynching and the paper. ![check][] ] [check]:http://servepapers247.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Checkmark-Red.png --- template:inverse ###Reductions in travel time almost ~~exactly~~ offset effects of distance --- .left-column[ ## Results ] .right-column[ ###Three implications The probability that a lynching is reported in a newspaper: 1. **increases** as distance **decreases** between the lynching and the paper. ![check][] 2. **increases** as travel times **decrease** between the lynching and the paper. ![check][] 3. **increases** when the lynching occurred in an area more **central in communication and transportation networks**. ![check][] ] [check]:http://servepapers247.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Checkmark-Red.png --- class: center, middle Probability of lynching mention by betweenness centrality
(deciles)
--- class: center, middle Probability of lynching mention by eigenvector centrality
(deciles)
--- template:inverse ##What's next? --- .left-column[ ##Next steps ###Criticism ] .right-column[ ###Does publicity produce criticism? * Measure criticism: keywords/phrases ![check][] * Is press coverage of lynching is more critical when the paper: 1. is at a greater distance 2. is in a place without a history or culture of lynching ] --- .left-column[ ##Next steps ###Criticism ###Technology ] .right-column[ ####Proximity to important nodes * Geocoding exact location of lynching events * Transcribe and geocode railroad stations * Lists for each year between 1880 and 1910 * Transcribe and geocode telegraph offices * Western Union books from 1870s through 1920s #### Crowdsourcing transcription * Real-time geocoding and mapping of new stations/offices * Public access to the data ] --- class: center, middle
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--- template:inverse #Thank you