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A Look into Court Reporting

The court reporter: it's a job that we've all seen on TV or in the movies, but we want to know what the job is like in real life. With no surprise, the job of court reporting is just as interesting and important as it seems on TV. A court reporter is an individual who is professionally trained to make accurate and complete transcriptions of the things that go on inside a courtroom during court hearings and litigations. Since the establishment of the court of law, there has been the need for a court reporter to provide transcriptions exactly as they happen. These notes are important to many people in the court process, not just the investigators. The jury, lawyers, and judges all benefit from the court transcriptions. It is important that these people involved in the court both are able to review the records as well as be in the transcript.

Court reporting in all judicial proceedings are needed in order to make all parties respected and represented. It is impossible to have a court procedure without the presence of a stenographer.

Shorthand writing was used in the past by court reporters to detail out every verbal exchange that happened in the court procedure. Today, however, there are various types of equipment available to court reporters to make the transcripts both easier to take as well as more thorough. The most widely used piece of equipment in courts today is the stenographic machine. Different syllables and words are represented by symbols on the stenographic machine, which is similar to the principles of shorthand writing. The stenographic machine contains special paper that is fed through when the court reporter presses or touch types these symbols. Because the stenographic machine helps the court reporter out so much, they are now able to type more than 200 words per minute.

Along with the stenographic machine, court reporters can also use special audio recording devices. These special audio recording devices are useful to court reporters because they are able to pick up all human voices without recording environmental noises. To make court transcriptions even more thorough, court reporters can take notes as the audio is being recorded and transcribed into the computer. The integration of both technologies together is extremely useful due to the fact that many court proceedings involve more than one person speaking at a time. Court reporters not only take note of what things are being said, but they also are there to make sure all spellings of names is correct.

Voice writing is another important aspect of court reporting. Voice writers are able to use special voice recognition technology to enhance recordings and make transcripts more accurate. No action can be missed by a voice writer. Unlike a stenographer, a voice writer uses a special microphone to describe the court proceedings as they are happening. To ensure the security of the transcriptions made by a voice writer, the microphone uses masking technology. The computer then takes the spoken transcriptions of the voice writer and puts them into written form for the use of the court. Because these transcriptions need to be exact, voice writers need a clear voice and even diction.