The GDELT Project

'Columbus Day' Versus 'Indigenous People's Day' In The Media

Is it "Columbus Day" or is it "Indigenous People's Day"?

The timeline below shows the percentage of combined airtime on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News by month mentioning the two phrases since July 2009. Immediately clear is that 2013 was a breakout year in terms of attention to the holiday, with "Indigenous People's Day" first meaningfully appearing the following year. Attention has steadily waned year over year ever since, with last year having the least mentions of the past decade.

Live Version.

Looking to online news coverage, the timeline below shows the percentage of coverage mentioning either of the two terms since January 2017. Here coverage has actually increased each of the last three years, hitting its highest point yesterday. Yesterday also represented a breakout year for Indigenous People's Day, accounting for 68% as much coverage as Columbus Day, compared to less than half as much the preceding two years.

Live Version.