Peculiarities of environmental issues coverage in Greek digital media (linguistic aspect)

Abstract

The present article examines the peculiarities of the coverage of environmental issues in Greek electronic media, studies the thematic, genre and stylistic features of the publications in question, as well as explains the established trends. The analysis has shown that environmental journalism in Greece is still at the stage of formation. Most publications devoted to global issues are reprints of foreign materials, and only materials devoted to local problems are authentic.However, the percentage of such authentic publications is relatively low. Only a small proportion of the Internet media have a separate section devoted to environmental problems. The majority of the electronic media sporadically publish materials on environmental topics in other sections. This indicates that the editors are unable to regularly fill such a section with relevant materials due to the lack of specialists. The immaturity of Greek environmental journalism is also evidenced by the genre poverty of the publications. The vast majority of materials belong to informational genres – extended news notes, informational correspondence and reports by environmental organizations. They do not require from a journalist to analyze the described phenomena in depth, nor to be present at the scene of events. The stylistic features of the publications in question stem from their genre features. While the commonly used vocabulary prevails, one can also come across generally understood scientific terms. Another feature of these publications is the active use of newspaper phraseology. The official tone and impersonal presentation of information are achieved through the active use of passive verb forms. The syntactic structure of the analyzed publications is characteristic of the official and publicistic style: it is dominated by subordinate clauses with homogeneous members. Informational genres that dominate in Greek environmental journalism are not a good choice for promoting the environmental movement in Greece. Their dry and detached tone is inappropriate in non-specialized media, as it does not contribute to the promotion of interest in environmental issues.