Media Reports about Natural Disasters : An Ecolinguistic Perspective

This chapter investigates the relationship between language, the mass media and natural disasters. Starting with an outline of theoretical convergences and divergences between an eco-critical and a critical discourse analytical perspective, the chapter expands the theoretical and methodological scope to include textual and media theoretical aspects. These will be illustrated with two examples: the analysis of metaphors in the media reporting about the Odra flood (1997) and the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in the UK. Finally, theoretical and methodological aspects are discussed including the development of an eco-critical typology of different kinds of an environmentally related disaster reporting.