This paper focuses on how media representations of the OECD’s Program for the International Student Assessment (Pisa) are realised linguistically, at the intersection of the audit society and the media, and what functions Pisa thereby fulfils. The relevance of the investigation is that earlier research has shown that both Pisa and mass media are used as tools by different actors in attempts to influence policymaking in the editorial sector.

Linguistic discourse analysis is used to examine articles published in two Swedish newspapers and one Swedish-language newspaper in Finland during the time span of one year. The results show how Pisa is used on one hand to augment the authority of writers in various ways and on the other hand as evidence of factual judgments, with different degrees of truth and knowledge claims. One conclusion is that newspaper readers need extensive previous knowledge of Pisa in order to be able to independently interpret the statements made in the newspaper articles.

Within linguistic research, claims of truth and knowledge have traditionally been discussed and analysed in terms of modality, for example with a focus on modal auxiliary verbs. This article contributes to identifying other linguistic resources that can be used to express and analyse such claims.