Knowledge gap hypothesis
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The knowledge-gap hypothesis theory suggests that each new medium increases the gap between the information rich and information poor, because of differences in access to the medium, and control over its use, among other factors.
It was first proposed by Phillip J. Tichenor and his colleagues. The concept of a digital divide is linked to this hypothesis, although its development was independent.
In the article, "Mass media flow and differential growth in knowledge" that Tichenor and his colleagues proposed in 1970, it is clear to describe "knowledge gap hypothesis": As the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases, segments of the population with higher socioeconomic status tend to acquire this information at a faster rate than the lower status segments, so that the gap in knowledge between these segments tends to increase rather than decrease.
