Huseby Celebrates 2021 Court Reporting & Captioning Week
Every year, the National Court Reporting Association sets aside a week to celebrate and bring awareness to court reporting and captioning. NCRA’s 2020 Court Reporting & Captioning Week, observed Feb. 6-13 by members, state associations, and schools, is living up to its theme, For The Love of Steno, generating official proclamations in more than two dozen states, as well as two at the federal level.
One of the programs that this week highlight is the NCRA’s A to Z Discover Steno Program. It’s an online program is a hybrid course combining both live online instructor sessions with videos and dictation materials for self-paced practice. During this free six-week program, experienced court reporters will teach you the alphabet in steno and how to write on a machine.
These types of programs help attract prospective court reporters and captioners into the profession – ensuring the record is safe guarded in the future. Current court reporters can even become program leaders and teach future court reporters and captioners.
Each Friday, Huseby posts fun facts about court reporting to promote the profession. Check out those fun facts below!
- The first known court reporter was Marcus Tullius Tiro, who developed shorthand in 63 BCE. He transcribed the lawyer Cicero’s speeches using over 4,000 symbol.
- Scribes, now court reporters, helped draft the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
- The first successful shorthand machine was invented and patented in 1879, which was used as late as 1937. The machine created a series of dots and dashes similar to Morse code.
- One of the most famous court reporters, Charles Dickens, had a career as a court reporter when he was 16.
- The modern stenotype keyboard has 22 keys, which can stand for a word, a syllable, or even a phrase.
- The ampersand is one of the earliest examples of shorthand.
- Court reporters are not just for legal proceedings. Their skills are also applied to other services including closed captioning, webinars, seminars, community and board meetings, and services for the deaf and hearing impaired.
- A traditional four-year degree is not required to become a court reporter or captioner. Court reporting or stenography programs can lead to a certificate or degree, and usually can be completed in 2 years. Programs typically include coursework in legal proceedings and terminology, court reporting procedures, technical dictation and voice writing technology.
- Today, court reporters can work from anywhere with remote video access and internet!