Media Narratives Surrounding Educational Reform: A Study of Analytical and Discussion-Oriented Programs on TV Imedi and Rustavi 2

Abstract

A large-scale and fundamental transformation is currently underway in Georgia’s education system. In October 2025, the government presented the document titled “National Concept of Education Reform,” which sparked significant public debate. The education system is one of the main pillars of a country’s development, directly influencing its social, economic, and democratic progress. Therefore, planned changes in this sector require broad public engagement and should be based on comprehensive research involving not only specialists and experts in the field, but also students, pupils, teachers, parents, and other interested stakeholders. In this process, the role of the media is of particular importance, as it serves as the primary platform where issues related to education reform become subjects of public discussion. The media’s selection of topics, framing of issues, tone of debate, and choice of participants significantly influence how society perceives ongoing changes and how public attitudes toward education policy are formed. Consequently, analyzing media coverage of education reform is important not only from an informational perspective but also for assessing democratic processes. The aim of this study is to examine analytical and discussion-based television programs broadcast by Rustavi 2 and TV Imedi. The research focuses, on the one hand, on Rustavi 2’s program “Debates” hosted by Rezi Chichinadze and, on the other hand, on TV Imedi’s socio-political program “Open Air: Debates with Magda Anikashvili”  in which education reform is presented as a central and recurring topic. The study covers the period from October 16, 2025—the date of the official presentation of the National Concept of Education Reform—to April 6, 2026, coinciding with the beginning of registration for the Unified National Examinations and a growing public interest in education policy. This time frame enables an analysis of the media’s response at different stages of the reform’s development. The objective of the research is to determine how comprehensively and through what types of frames these media outlets covered ongoing changes in the education system, which arguments and evaluations dominated the broadcasts, and in what context television discussions on this issue took place. The study analyzes the narratives and thematic emphases through which education reform is presented, the overall tone of the discussions, and the extent to which space is provided for the expression of diverse viewpoints. The research is based on a qualitative methodology and employs the case study method. The selected programs are examined as specific cases whose in-depth analysis makes it possible to identify broader trends in the analytical and editorial policies of Georgian television media. The study utilizes qualitative content analysis to examine the substance of arguments and evaluations expressed on air, assess the positions of invited guests, and determine the role of program hosts in shaping the direction of discussion. Particular attention is paid to periods when the education reform generated strong public reactions, including debates surrounding university mergers and the centralization of higher education. This context is important for understanding how the media responded to peaks in public interest and to what extent it ensured comprehensive, balanced, and inclusive public discussion.