Knowledge belonged only to the elite who had access to the very few tablets, scrolls and manuscripts. Knowledge is power is used often to explain how some people retain control. Even in more recent times, we have seen dictators and bigots keep others down by restricting their access to books, by denying them a quality education and even by forbidding them from learning to read. People who cannot read or who have no way to independently access information are in the viselike grip of people who can read and have the access. Prior to the printing press, information whether Biblical or political was the province of the few.
Religious leaders read and interpreted to the masses.
Local and national leaders controlled the official information given to the common people. Rumors, gossip, myths and legends were transported from person to person and from village to village. And all of them rumors, gossip, myths and legends were probably believed as readily as the official announcements from a town crier. Today, we are blessed with nearly unlimited access to information. We can get it through newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the Internet and through our right to access all materials from local public institutions.