I have been asked by a couple of my Twitter friends to opine on the future of court reporting, particularly as it relates to technology and voice recognition, tape recorders, electronic recording, et cetera.

In my opinion, stenographic reporters have an amazing future, BUT only if the reporters are willing to step up to the plate ready to hit home runs.    

In ’79, ’80 many people were worried about tape recorders taking over our industry.  When I decided to drop out of SDSU after my second semester to go to court reporting school, quite a few relatives and friends were worried for me.  They had heard that tape recorders were becoming very sophisticated and would be replacing court reporters in court.  They heard about this new science of voice recognition that IBM was going to push.    I was a little worried, but decided to gamble anyway because I was so attracted to the field of court reporting.  My single goal at that time was mastering the stenograph machine and passing the California CSR examination.

Now it is 2010, 30 years later.  I still hear the same rumblings from people.  It has been proven over and over again that having a live court reporter taking down any proceeding will win out over a machine when it comes to accuracy, efficiency, and dependability.  So why has ER (electronic recording) taken over in different states around the country?  I believe it is part of the “commoditization” of our industry and the “it’s good enough” attitude that is prevalent in our society. 

Standards have been set lower by administrators and legislators. 

To survive as an industry, I believe that court reporters unequivocally must not let their standards go down and must continue to strive to be better, faster, and cleaner writers. 

As an agency owner, I have seen some of the mediocrity that is out there in our field.  I have written in past blogs about broken-down steno machines, reporters who refuse to join state associations, national, who never take even one continuing education class after they get their license.  These reporters, in my opinion, don’t care about their future or court reporting.

I have also worked with court reporters that I am in awe of, so proud of, who blow me away with their greatness.  These reporters have solid writers, the latest version of their CAT systems, are able to get out a “clean” rough draft hours after a deposition, hearing, or arbitration.  The most talented CART providers, captioners, and realtime reporters will never lose their jobs.    

If someone is worried about the future and court reporting, I would suggest that person meet a talented realtime reporter, CART provider and/or captioner.  I know of no technology on earth that can compete with us and create a written record of any proceedings at 225 – 350 words per minute, a record with punctuation and speaker identification, a record of people who speak in all kinds of accents, and this record is created SIMULTANEOUS TO WHEN THE WORDS ARE SPOKEN.   

If you are a talented writer, scared of realtime, you are going to need to get over yourself.  For those who are in court reporting school, never settle for being “good enough to get out.”  Be great.  Support your court reporting associations.  They are on your team and will help you obtain goals with continuing education and testing.    You are our future.

Court reporters that are ready and able to hit a home run will always be in demand.  Bench warmers are going to be going home.

rosalie@kramm.com

Twitter:  @rosaliekramm