ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS: MASS-MEDIA COVERAGE OF NEW CHALLENGES IN GERMAN-LANGUAGE MASS MEDIA

Abstract

This study focuses on the coverage of environmental threats in the German-language media. The methodology of this study is based on the ecolinguistic approach, particularly the achievements of media ecology, identifying the harmonization of the media space as a priority for journalism and a relevant area for linguistic studies. The German-language media focuses on the environmental challenges caused by the war in Ukraine, the threat of imminent climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of their media presentation by the lexical and stylistic means is becoming relevant for linguistic research. The anthropocentric worldview of the human being causes a significant manipulative effect of anthropomorphic metaphor on the reader and helps to promote a conscious attitude to the environment. The distinguished models of metaphor and metonymy, used to increase the emotional plane of the described content, indicate the possibility of their use as a tool for awakening ecolinguistic consciousness. The socio- and psycholinguistic experiment determined the peculiarities of the German-speaking respondents' reception of publications on environmental issues. Representatives of the younger generation (mostly students) were interviewed, which allowed forming an idea of their interest in overcoming ecological problems and finding out popular sources of information about them. The impossibility of an immediate comprehensive expert assessment of the consequences of the war in Ukraine for all ecosystems determines further research into the means of media attention to this issue.