Dissemination of international rankings: characteristics of the media coverage of the Shanghai Ranking in the French press

Abstract

The number of university rankings proliferated in the 2000s against a background of reforms in higher education (HE) and the development of a discourse on academic ‘excellence’. The analysis of the emergence and treatment in the French press of the so-called ‘Shanghai ranking’, the first international ranking to originate in the world of academia, makes it possible to objectify the characteristics of its dissemination in France from June 2003 when it was first published in China. Although there was no intention initially to have this ranking circulated in France, it ultimately became more widely known owing to its status as a useful resource for different actors working against a background of HE reforms in France. This article discusses the intensification of media coverage from 2007 onwards, as well as the role played by certain media organisations and players (analysis of French press corpus and interviews). It highlights the importance of depreciative framing for French universities to ‘create a buzz’ along with the co-construction of the process by different players. The ranking has become a journalistic resource, as well as a political argument for reforms and a communication tool for certain university presidents.