A public affairs information acquisition model postulated 26 causal lines among the background variables parental status, educational attainment, income, social/political participation, five communication sources, and public affairs information status. Since this sequential model had 35 possible paths among the variables but hypothesized that only 26 paths were influential, it was proposed that the model would be found useful if the coefficients for the 26 predicted causal lines were found to be considerably greater than those coefficients for the lines without predictions. The model was tested in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, using a sample of 636 adults with varying socioeconomic and educational backgrounds; and the data fit the hypothesized informational status attainment model fairly well. The major differences between the predicted and actual models centered around the participation variable, which did not have significant coefficients for the causal lines leading to and emanating from it. Another difference was the relatively poor performance of magazine exposure as a predictor of information holding. Attention to radio and television public affairs programing had significant effects, suggesting that these media (especially radio) help narrow the knowledge gap between rich and poor in developing nations. (RL)