Determining the professional role of sport information
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Abstract
Through public relations roles research, this study re-examines the dominant role of sport information professionals. Broom and Smith (1979) identified four primary roles for public relations: expert prescriber, communications facilitator, problem-solving process facilitator, and communications technician. Stoldt’s (1998) study showed an overwhelming majority of sport information professionals operated under the communication technician role even though 34 percent had titles that categorized them as managers. In this study, sport information professionals at Division I-A college athletics departments were surveyed in order to determine if the dominant public relations role changed in the 16 years since Stoldt’s study. The vast majority of respondents in this study were classified as communication technicians. Despite the 16-year gap between both studies, sport information professionals still operate under the same dominant public relations role.