This paper examines 138 news articles published in Hong Kong print media on Putonghua as a medium of instruction (PMI) for teaching Chinese during a one-year period. Informed by theories of framing and the multiple streams approach (MSA), the study investigated the local Chinese print media's participation in the PMI policy process. Detailed content analysis revealed how the press discursively impeded policy outputs with regard to PMI in Hong Kong. The results remind policy entrepreneurs of the importance of framing and counter-framing. More studies from the policy process perspective are needed to explore the ways in which stakeholders, policy entrepreneurs and policy makers engage with the mass media in the educational language policy debate.