They typically take a low-profile role in the background,
rapidly punching their fingers on a stenotype machine to record all the
statements delivered in the courtroom.
However, earlier this week, court stenographers had their day in the sun when they competed in the annual court reporting championships in San Francisco. The event, often referred to as the “Olympics” of court reporting, was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 20. Dozens of stenographers vied for the titles of fastest and most accurate in a variety of contests, but two rivals with distinctly different styles garnered the most attention.
However, earlier this week, court stenographers had their day in the sun when they competed in the annual court reporting championships in San Francisco. The event, often referred to as the “Olympics” of court reporting, was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 20. Dozens of stenographers vied for the titles of fastest and most accurate in a variety of contests, but two rivals with distinctly different styles garnered the most attention.
Mark Kislingbury, a 51-year-old Houston man, who has been
dubbed the “Michael Jordan” of court reporting, faced off against Jo Ann Bryce,
a 59-year-old federal court reporter from San Francisco, who has worked in the
field nearly 40 years.
Kislingbury employs a special brand of stenography, using a
diverse range of shortcuts for words and phrases to cut down the number of
keystrokes needed. He promotes his short-writing methods and speed-building
techniques in books and courses at his own Houston-based Academy of Court Reporting.
Bryce, on the other hand, sticks to a more traditional style
of court reporting that involves typing out more of the words phonetically. The old-school style of court reporting proved valuable as
Bryce swept the competition in real-time and speed competitions, winning gold medals
in all five categories. Bryce scored nearly 100-percent accuracy, perfectly recording
five minutes of question-and-answer testimony delivered at a rapid 280 words
per minute.
The championships, organized by the National Court Reporters Association, date back to more than a century ago, when the tools of the trade were simply pen and paper. Nowadays, court reporters use a stenotype machine, which looks like a small typewriter with 22 keys. Each button represents a particular syllable, word or phrase.
In 2012, there were 21,000 people working as court reporters, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with 10-percent growth predicted for the field by 2022. A new study sponsored by the court reporters trade association estimates a larger number of 32,000 people in the profession today, according to the Wall Street Journal. Many stenographers have also branched out to do closed captioning for television and other jobs.
In recent years, some courts have opted to replace live reporters with cheaper digital recording machines, but human beings still serve as the primary writers of history in federal court and state criminal cases. New technology has not yet evolved to capture every unintelligible mumble and peculiar enunciation uttered in the courtroom.
So the next time you’re in court and hear the tapping of a stenotype machine, just remember you could be in the presence of a champion in the making.
The championships, organized by the National Court Reporters Association, date back to more than a century ago, when the tools of the trade were simply pen and paper. Nowadays, court reporters use a stenotype machine, which looks like a small typewriter with 22 keys. Each button represents a particular syllable, word or phrase.
In 2012, there were 21,000 people working as court reporters, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with 10-percent growth predicted for the field by 2022. A new study sponsored by the court reporters trade association estimates a larger number of 32,000 people in the profession today, according to the Wall Street Journal. Many stenographers have also branched out to do closed captioning for television and other jobs.
In recent years, some courts have opted to replace live reporters with cheaper digital recording machines, but human beings still serve as the primary writers of history in federal court and state criminal cases. New technology has not yet evolved to capture every unintelligible mumble and peculiar enunciation uttered in the courtroom.
So the next time you’re in court and hear the tapping of a stenotype machine, just remember you could be in the presence of a champion in the making.
No comments:
Post a Comment