New Delhi, June 27 -- In Kerala's forest-fringed villages, encounters between people and wild elephants are no longer rare; they've become a regular fixture in the news. But behind the headlines about rampaging tuskers and grieving families lies a deeper issue: The way the media portrays these events.

Increasingly, elephants are cast as rogue intruders and local communities as powerless victims. This reductionist narrative not only oversimplifies a complex ecological crisis but also undermines the search for sustainable solutions.

Drawing on critical discourse analysis (CDA) of English-language reportage from news outlets The Hindu, Times of India, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi, this article explores how journalistic language and im...