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More facts about stenography
The world of stenography has seen an enormous evolution in recent decades. The days of pens, note-takers, and Dictaphones are gone. Stenography, or court reporting, is now officially classified as an information technology profession. In this field, expert machine writers provide simultaneous text output on computer or television monitors and instant transcripts for consumers in courts and beyond, the most prestigious (and least visible) of whom are closed-captioners for television broadcasts. There is no known replacement for the role of a qualified realtime stenographer in today’s world.
Contrary to modern-day expectation, this is neither a redundant nor an obsolete profession. In fact, no technology exists that does what a qualified stenographer can do. Experts feel that a replacement technology may be a hundred or more years away. As this millenium unfolds, it's expected that there will be virtually thousands of jobs for highly skilled realtime writers, but very few people to fill them.
Voice recognition technology
There is a great temptation for lay people to presume that stenographers will be replaced with voice-recognition software. Programs that perform this task are marvellous, but they will never substitute the skills of a human being. Not even close. Try to imagine how the best VR software might ever discern between:
"All of 'er seams ripped."
"Oliver seems ripped."
Thousands of linguistic anomalies exist in everyday language that can only be reported accurately by a qualified stenographer. This should not be overlooked. Multiple speakers, heavy accents and dialects — nothing can replace the need for a human mind to accurately report the words spoken. The reason judiciaries and media have not chosen voice-recognition technology is that their needs are serious and require professional, accurate service providers.
Information technology
Qualified stenographers and realtime reporters are highly skilled mavens armed with knowledge in many fields. As technoscribes, they are responsible for managing huge amounts of information. Their roles help to fashion the history of society. In fact their work becomes history every day, and all the while they remain relatively unnoticed.
Beyond their remarkable skills in capturing high rates of speech, verbatim reporters are also trained at transcription — another field that requires special training. In the judicial world, it's well accepted that a case might be won or lost over the placement of a period!
The internet has led to a burgeoning need for "web casting" reporters. These are stenographic professionals who are becoming central in the creation of instant text for intranet seminars, meetings, and symposia.
As the post-WW2 generation ages and demands equal access, the need for IT reporters to provide captions at public events continues to expand. The next time you are at a convocation ceremony and speeches are projected on a large screen, there is no doubt that a realtime stenographic reporter is in the wings performing this wonderful feat.
Stenographers are hard to spot, but they are nevertheless ubiquitous in developed countries. If you perchance see one somewhere writing on a high-tech machine, imagine how not long ago it might have been a bespectacled little character who had no idea what the future had in store.
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