Framing philanthropy as a driver of improvement: The mediatisation of non-state actors in education governance in Portugal

This article focuses on the mediatisation of education policy, analysing how the media frames the interventions of non-state actors, particularly those associated with philanthropy. In doing so, it explores how such framing contributes to their public construction as legitimate and qualified actors in education governance. Drawing on a corpus-based approach, the article presents an exploratory study on 454 news items covering a philanthropic foundation’s think tank and a corporate philanthropy initiative in Portugal over a 15-year period. The findings show that the media frame these actors as drivers of improvement in the Portuguese education system, presenting them as actors that define problems and advocate solutions, in alliance with business, political, and administrative elites and drawing on expert knowledge.