Ambivalent or beneficial? An ecological discourse analysis of news reports on the adventures of China’s wandering elephants

Based on the ecosophy of “diversity and harmony, interaction and co-existence”, the present study analyzes the characteristics of the attitude system of news reports on the adventures of China’s wandering elephants in China Daily to investigate whether the reports belong to ambivalent or beneficial discourse from the perspective of ecological discourse analysis. The findings show that judgement and appreciation resources are more frequently used than affect resources; negative resources are fewer than positive ones but some negative resources also have positive functions; more attention has been paid to human protection measures than to animals; besides, beneficial discourse accounts for the highest proportion, which shows China’s concept of ecological civilization. Based on the above analysis, suggestions are proposed for news discourse in communicating China’s ecological civilization: showing personal rather than general emotional experience in animal protection to express Chinese people’s love and concern for animals, appreciating positive emotions and the mutual helping behaviour of animals to express ecological consciousness indirectly, and taking full advantage of the links between affect, judgement and appreciation to express the moral judgement.