Title: The culture of communication among intercollegiate sport information professionals

Authors: Frederick L. Battenfield, Aubrey Kent

Addresses: Old Dominion University, HPE Building 140, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA. ' Florida State University, 130 Tully Gym, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA

Abstract: Two questions are stimulated by the dawning of the |Communication Age| (Lull, 2002). Has modern society overly engrossed in communicating with technology, and has face-to-face communication become obsolete? The purpose of the study was to |crack the code| of the culture of communication in the Division I-A sports information office. An ethnographic study was utilised to discover the verbal, non-verbal and technological communication methods of the SID. The study also examined the artefacts and rituals of the SID help form the communicative culture. Five thematic areas of SID culture were identified: 1. office space; 2. a sporadic and rushed verbal culture; 3. electronic communication indicated a major paradigmatic shift in SID culture; 4. non-verbal communication was used as defense mechanisms; 5. the analysis of SID rituals and artefacts showed a culture of production, task immediacy, paper culture versus electronic technology and a culture of virtual anonymity.

Keywords: communication culture; sport ethnography; intercollegiate sport; sports information directors; public relations; college athletics; athletic communications.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2007.012403

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2007 Vol.2 No.3, pp.236 - 251

Published online: 11 Feb 2007 *

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