Topic-sentiment Configuration and Meaning Construction in Ecological Discourse on People’s Daily Weibo

Government Weibo serves as an important platform for disseminating ecological concepts and guiding public ecological awareness. This study investigates ecological discourse on the Weibo account of People’s Daily through the theoretical perspective of ecological discourse analysis, employing BERTopic topic modeling and sentiment analysis to examine the thematic structures, sentiment characteristics, and discursive functions of ecological discourse. The findings reveal that ecological discourse on People’s Daily demonstrates a multi-level and multidimensional thematic structure, with overall sentiment expressions showing a positive orientation. Different topics exhibit differentiated sentiment patterns based on their issue-specific characteristics, while diverse ecological issues construct ecological value identification through distinctive Topic–sentiment configurations, facilitate ecological governance negotiation, and strengthen ecological risk warning. This study provides a new perspective for understanding ecological civilization discourse in the digital media environment.