This study attempted to clarify the interplay of self/social interest and education level as factors in the "knowledge gap" hypothesis, which states that knowledge of heavily publicized topics is accrued faster over time by better educated persons. In each of two telephone surveys in the Lansing, Michigan, area, the same 253 adults were measured for their knowledge of two news events of varying interest (the National Football League strike and the Nixon impeachment developments). The respondents also provided data about their self-interest in each news event (how it influenced their lives), their social interest in the news event (whether they talked about it with anyone), and their level of education. When respondents' interest and education levels were correlated to knowledge about the news events, social interest in the events emerged as the best single predictor of knowledge, and the multiple correlation of education/interest to knowledge was only slightly better than social interest alone. The correlations between interest and knowledge across time suggest a causal relationship between them, but more research is needed (using news events of equivalent as well as varying duration in the mass media) to ascertain the validity of these tentative observations. (RL)