Eco-Critical Discourse Analysis of American News Coverage on the Los Angeles Wildfire: A Corpus-Based Study

Abstract

This study analyses the representation of the Los Angeles wildfires in American English news media by critically analysing the coverage of the two television networks: CNN and Fox News. A corpus-based approach was employed, whereby a self-assembled corpus was assembled from wildfire news items, and AntConc software was used for lexical and concordance analysis. The study focuses on identifying the most common linguistic patterns used to describe wildfires, human beings, and government intervention. The research findings show that wildfires are frequently anthropomorphised and described using emotive and destructive adjectives, such as “killer,” “monster,” “deadly force,” and “destroyer.” This narrative positions the wildfires as independent agents of destruction, thereby absolving human agency and environmental context of responsibility within the narrative. Humans, by contrast, are often portrayed as victims, innocents, and displaced persons, while government agencies are depicted as helpers or rescuers. These representations create a narrative that displaces the catastrophe from its anthropogenic causes, such as climate change and environmental neglect. The study argues that this discursive trend is not environmentally positive, as it downplays the role of human activity in intensifying such events and hinders the development of environmental awareness. In conclusion, the study emphasises the need for more ecologically responsible media narratives that acknowledge human blame and promote sustainable ecological narratives.

Keywords: Los Angeles wildfires, media discourse, corpus linguistics, environmental representation, American news media