Monopolies of knowledge

From Wikipedia entry :

According to communication theorist Harold Innis, monopolies of knowledge are created in the atmosphere of hostility between time-biased and space-biased media, wherein one tradition marginalizes the other. In this context, the term "knowledge" refers to all information and data in addition to the products of literacy and science. Those who control knowledge through the dominant media of a given society also control reality, in that they are in a position to define what knowledge is legitimate. Thus, monopolies of knowledge encourage centralization of power.

Innis concluded that monopolies of knowledge lead to an imbalance of power in society, which inhibits development by stifling competition among ideas, traditions and institutions.

From entry on Harold Innis :

Innis also tried to defend universities from political and economic pressures. He believed that independent universities, as centres of critical thought, were essential to the survival of Western civilization. His intellectual disciple and university colleague, Marshall McLuhan, lamented Innis's premature death as a disastrous loss for human understanding. McLuhan wrote: "I am pleased to think of my own book The Gutenberg Galaxy as a footnote to the observations of Innis on the subject of the psychic and social consequences, first of writing then of printing."