基于生态话语分析的长江江豚新闻报道研究

An Ecolinguistic Analysis of News Reports on the Yangtze Finless Porpoise

摘要: 长江江豚是长江中现存唯一的淡水鲸豚类动物，也是长江生态系统健康状况的重要指示物种。近年来，随着长江十年禁渔和长江大保护的持续推进，长江江豚频繁出现在新闻报道和科普宣传中，成为生态保护传播的重要符号。本文以生态话语分析为理论框架，结合评价系统的态度分析方法，以2023年4月至2026年6月间人民网、新华网及其地方频道，中国科学院水生生物研究所官网及武汉市人民政府官网发布的17篇新闻报道(约27,000字符)为语料，分析媒体建构长江江豚形象的话语策略及其生态内涵。研究发现，相关报道主要通过可爱化命名、亲缘化叙事和共同体与城市身份建构，将长江江豚塑造为亲近可爱，值得守护的生命对象，在文本层面呈现出较强的生态有益倾向，但对受众的实际传播效果仍待考证。并且其内在的“可爱偏向”存在一定局限，可能强化对外形具有审美吸引力物种的偏向，相对弱化对江豚生态处境的关注。本文认为，成熟的濒危物种保护传播应在情感的基础上，通过强化物种内在价值与生态系统整体价值的话语表达，为公众生态认知从审美转向生态伦理提供话语可能。

Abstract: The Yangtze finless porpoise is the only remaining freshwater cetacean species in the Yangtze River and serves as a key indicator of the ecological health of the river ecosystem. In recent years, with the implementation of the ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River and broader Yangtze River conservation efforts, the Yangtze finless porpoise has frequently appeared in news reports and science communication campaigns, becoming an important symbol in ecological conservation discourse. Drawing on the framework of ecolinguistics and employing the Appraisal Theory approach to attitude analysis, this study examines 17 news reports (approximately 27,000 Chinese characters) published between April 2023 and June 2026 on the websites of People’s Daily Online and its regional channels, Xinhuanet and its regional channels, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Wuhan Municipal People’s Government. The study investigates the discursive strategies used by the media to construct the image of the Yangtze finless porpoise and explores their ecological implications. The findings reveal that these reports primarily portray the Yangtze finless porpoise as an approachable, endearing, and worthy object of protection through strategies such as endearing naming, kinship-based narratives, and community and urban identity construction. Such emotionalized discourse is generally ecologically beneficial at the textual level, but its actual audience effects remain to be further examined. However, the underlying “cuteness bias” also presents certain limitations, potentially reinforcing a preference for aesthetically appealing species and relatively weakening attention to the porpoise’s ecological conditions. This study argues that mature communication on endangered species conservation should move beyond emotional mobilization and place greater emphasis on articulating the intrinsic value of species and the holistic value of ecosystems, thereby offering discursive possibilities for a shift in public ecological awareness from aesthetic appreciation toward ecological ethics.