Melissa Hortman Shooting: YouTube Coverage Data

Melissa Hortman Shooting Coverage: YouTube Comments & Video Metadata

Dataset Overview

This dataset contains comprehensive YouTube data related to the tragic shooting of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman. The collection includes both video metadata and public comments from YouTube's coverage of this significant political news event, providing researchers with rich data for analyzing public discourse, media coverage patterns, and social responses to political violence.

Data Collection

Data was systematically collected on June 18, 2025, using the query "Gunman shoots and kills Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman." The collection process focused on the most relevant and recently published content to capture immediate public reaction and media coverage of this breaking news event.

Dataset Contents

The dataset comprises 53,817 comments from 131 unique videos, offering extensive coverage of public discourse surrounding this political tragedy. Comments are sorted by newest first to capture real-time reactions, while video metadata provides context about content creators, engagement metrics, and publication timing.

Potential Use Cases

• Sentiment Analysis: Analyze public emotional responses to political violence
• Media Studies: Examine how different news outlets covered the same event
• Political Communication: Study crisis communication patterns in political contexts
• Social Network Analysis: Investigate information spread and engagement patterns
• Content Analysis: Research themes and narratives in user-generated responses
• Temporal Analysis: Track how coverage and public opinion evolved over time
• Comparative Studies: Compare this event's coverage with other political incidents

Ethical Considerations

This dataset contains public comments and metadata from YouTube's public platform. All data represents information already publicly available.

File Structure

• comments.csv: Individual comment data with user engagement metrics
• video_details.csv: Video metadata including titles, descriptions, and statistics

Support & Updates

Questions about the dataset methodology and/or additional context are welcome in the discussion forum.