Power, Knowledge and Resistance in African Media

This paper advances a critical synthesis of Michel Foucault’s theory of power/knowledge for media analysis, with specific attention to how “truth” is produced, stabilized, and contested within contemporary media institutions. It argues that media should be treated as a primary site where power circulates through discourse, institutional routines, and disciplinary techniques that shape what becomes visible, credible, and socially actionable. The paper evaluates key debates on whether Foucauldian power permits meaningful resistance, clarifying the status of agency within power relations and specifying what counts as resistance beyond celebratory claims. It then applies these theoretical disputes to the Ghanaian media landscape by identifying community radio and grassroots digital platforms as contested spaces where local knowledge can be articulated against dominant commercial and political narratives. The analysis stresses that resistance cannot be assumed; it must be examined through evidence of institutional disruption, narrative reconfiguration, audience uptake, and sustainability. Building on this critique, the paper proposes an agenda for future research that tests power/knowledge claims through institutional analysis of ownership, regulation, and newsroom practice, alongside audience research and platform governance studies that track how algorithmic visibility and moderation reshape public discourse. By refining Foucauldian concepts for media scholarship and linking them to concrete sites of media production and contestation, the paper clarifies how media power works, why it persists, and where it becomes vulnerable to challenge in Ghana and comparable contexts.