Reversing the Projected Court Reporting Shortage

Ask any high school senior looking into college prospects, taking the ACTs and SATs what (s)he knows about court reporters and the profession — and they’ll most likely respond with questions that sound something like, “Court reporters are the people that type on those little black boxes, aren’t they? I thought they didn’t exist anymore? Isn’t that old-fashioned? Can’t voice recognition do what they do?”

It is exactly this mindset that has prevented prospective high school and college graduates from delving into the profession – which is why it’s time to spread the news that:

• —  Court Reporting is Awesome –
• — Its Future Looks Incredible –
• — Voice Recognition Will Never Do What We Do —

Court reporting is awesome because there are so many venues in which a reporter may work:

• From freelance reporting that offers the prospect of world travel,
• To courtroom and legislative reporting,
• To Communication Access Realtime (CART) for deaf and/or hard-of-hearing students,
• To broadcast captioning.

Because court reporters have such an incredible skill set, freelance reporters can literally pick and choose when they work, leaving them the flexibility to pursue other interests, such as staying home with their little ones, volunteering at their children’s schools, or pursuing hobbies.

Reel-to-reel audio was invented in the 1930s, and by the mid-1940s, rumor was that court reporters were going to be replaced by technology.  Now, nearly 75 years later, reporters are thriving, and the demand for their skill set continues to rise.

To negate the rumor mill and combat the projected court reporter shortage, prospective high school and college graduates should know that:

• Unlike voice recognition software that struggles with so much of what people say, court reporters can parse through even the most difficult accent and translate it into clearly readable English.
• Not only are court reporters expert accent differentiators, but everything they write is translated into English within a tenth of a second.
• Court reporters must be knowledgeable — know something about everything — because on Monday they may have to take the testimony of a computer scientist; on Tuesday, a heart surgeon; on Wednesday, a financial analyst/economist; on Thursday, an accident reconstruction expert; and on Friday, a forensic pathologist.
•  Court reporters must have good eye-ear-hand coordination, have the stamina to write all day, as well as top-notch grammar, punctuation and English skill sets.

Court reporters are desperately needed in court, in classrooms to provide CART, and as broadcast captioners. They are experts at what they do, and as Judge Nuffer so aptly pointed out in this October 7^th interview with the National Court Reporters Association, a realtime court reporter’s value is “very high.”

So spread the word: Court reporters worldwide have embraced technology, and it is because of technology that they remain a vital and integral part of the justice system,  of the educational system, and broadcast industry. Thousands of new court reporters are needed in order to keep up with the demand for their services. Court reporting is a career that will last a lifetime, one to be proud of, and one that evolves with the times.