The analysis compares the peaceful and violent frames from broadcast news coverage to publicly available data on protest activity from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) which categorized protests as peaceful or violent.

The analysis included all protest events with Black Lives Matter listed as an actor that occurred within the U.S. between May 26, 2020 and June 7, 2020.

Peaceful protests are defined by the ACLED as “demonstrators engaged in protest while not engaging in violence or other forms of rioting behavior and are not faced with any sort of force or engagement.” ^4.1 Violent demonstrations are defined by the ACLED as protests where demonstrators engage in violence, including vandalism, burning objects, and other types of violent and/or destructive behavior. ^4.2