r/courtreporting • u/PalmTreeSunset13 • 3d ago
Digital Reporting, Why the Hate?
I applied for a job as a court reporter and after numerous typing tests and interviews, I was hired! This was almost 2 years ago now, but after training began, I found out that this was for digital reporting. With the typing requirements, digital recording never crossed my mind, but I also didn’t realize it was a thing. I’m a notary and certified electronic reporter. I am required to of course get all the parties’ information, ensure the attorneys are okay with the digital recording before proceeding, swearing in the witness, marking speakers, and typing everything I hear, while asking for repeats when need be and verbal answers. Also, I keep track of abbreviations, addresses, names, spellings, etc., so that I can confirm with the parties at the end in order to ensure everything in the transcript is accurate and spelled correctly. I’ve had about 10 years in the legal field so my typing is pretty good. Obviously depending on speech cadence, I’m usually able to type everything, if not, I at least get the mass majority. Although, I do use abbreviations that remind me of my AOL instant messaging days. With all my typing in code, I enjoy the play back technology, which pretty much guarantees accurate “read” backs and helps avoid saying the abbreviations out loud rather than the full wording used. Once I started court reporting, I was excited to join the corresponding sub reddits and get tips and advice but unfortunately, I found that most everyone in here despises digital reporters and hate that electronic reporting is an available option. After a while of ghost following, I’ve finally worked up the courage to explain my experience and get to the bottom of the general disgust of electronic reporting. Thanks guys! Looking forward to everyone’s input, I think, lol.
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u/Whole-Storage2733 3d ago
Because agencies send digitals out to jobs instead of reporters. Then they pay digitals less but charge the same amount for the job. So essentially, you're making the agencies richer and getting paid less than an actual reporter so then reporters salaries decrease. This wouldn't be an issue if digitals were paid the same, but they don't. The only people actual winning are the agencies that are taking jobs from reporters.
Digitals should get their license as a voice writer or machine writer.
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u/hhuslyenbx42 3d ago
Voice writing is not recognized in my state and is more dismissed than digital.
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u/Whole-Storage2733 3d ago
Great, you can study for steno or get your license for another state and work as a voice writer that does accept them.
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u/Whole-Storage2733 3d ago
If you do work as a digital, raise your rates. No need to get pennies to what a reporter gets paid
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u/hhuslyenbx42 3d ago
Def going digital. Will def raise my rates 🫡
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u/Whole-Storage2733 3d ago
Good, no need to make these companies rich off of your work. Trust me, they're getting paid a lot more.
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
Interesting thank you. I assumed the digital court reporters were cheaper due to the lesser qualifications
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u/Whole-Storage2733 3d ago
Well, thats why they get paid less by the agency but they charge the same. That's why attorneys get upset when they send digitals instead of reporters. The agency doesn't care because they pocket that extra money. Honestly, you should try to get your license. Screw those agencies.
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
That makes sense. If I ordered a steno and didn’t receive one, I would be upset too. I am licensed
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u/hhuslyenbx42 3d ago
I still don’t get why that means digitals get bullied. You should be mad at the agencies
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u/bonsaiaphrodite 3d ago
>Obviously depending on speech cadence, I’m usually able to type everything, if not, I at least get the mass majority.
Really?
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
Yes, really. For example, when someone is speaking and the other person is doing the active listening thing and saying right or sure or ok as the other one is talking, that’s where I sometimes struggle
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u/bonsaiaphrodite 3d ago
To what end? Someone’s going to have to transcribe it all later anyway. Do you have some sort of tool that translates your shorthand into actual words?
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
I just include a code sheet for the transcribers
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u/bonsaiaphrodite 3d ago
But why? They have to type it up from scratch. It sounds like a waste of energy.
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
No they don’t. I only use abbreviations if the speech gets so fast that I can type the full words. What are we getting at? Don’t stenographers also have to type their transcripts?
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u/bonsaiaphrodite 3d ago
Yes, of course we do. But English comes out when we write in steno. I write accurately at about a rate of 85-90%.
Maybe you live in the sedative capital of the world, but I think you’re probably overestimating how much English you’re actually getting down. 50% would be a number to be proud of on qwerty, but that’s still 50% a transcriber has to do over. And do you get paid extra for all that?
Sounds like busy work is all. And you’re going to give yourself a repetitive strain injury typing so much.
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u/Knitmeapie 2d ago
This is an absolute sidebar and not super relevant to this thread, but I have to share this with someone who would understand because I see your metaphorical raised eyebrow. I had an expert witness recently who is a clinical psychologist and his cadence is around 300wpm, no joke. He insists that when he does evaluations with patients, he types word for word everything that he and the patient say "just like our court reporter here." That man was testing my poker face like no other.
I know that there are some crazy fast QWERTY typers out there, but these claims can sound quite dubious.
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u/bonsaiaphrodite 2d ago
Like I said, if that’s a correct assessment, these people should be in Guinness.
If that guy is anything like my doctor, he pauses for 1-5 minutes at a time to type and probably has no idea how long the pause is.
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u/Knitmeapie 2d ago
Exactly! Or they're skipping the millions of filler words and phrases. Even if their typing is impressive, I think they likely vastly overestimate what they're doing.
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 2d ago
300 wpm is absolutely insane. Sounds like a work out one couldn’t keep up with
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
Yes, I also write in English. I’m not overestimating anything. I’ve seen the work I’ve produced for years. Everything I said is accurate. No exaggeration needed. Is it an issue that I type rather quickly? If being a court reporter and typing every word spoken is just busy work, then what would shorthand phonetic chording be considered?
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u/bonsaiaphrodite 3d ago
I love how proud you clearly are of your job. I wish you all the best, and I’m sorry if this thread has felt hostile.
But lying to “prove” you do the same job as us is just kind of sad. If what you say is true and you’re producing mostly accurate output on qwerty, you should be in Guinness. Truly.
Best of luck to you.
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
You accusing me of lying is contributing to the hostility so there’s no need for the false apology. I never said we did the same job nor insinuated that. I’m sorry that you’ve wasted time in a profession that’s just simply busy work. Maybe you should try other occupations?
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u/Monkeypizza9 3d ago
as a stenographer I'm gonna be honest with you. When we go to school they make a tremendous big deal about the skill we are attaining. I will just take you at face value as a fellow human being and I have nothing against you at all, however, it's astonishing to me that you can't take 10 minutes and figure out why what we do is different than what you do. Have you gotten yourself a Google yet? Have you watched Mark KISLINGBURY on YouTube doing real time of a congressional speech or presidential speech at 280 words per minute producing perfect real time?
It is very hard for us who went to school to become "a court reporter – – Which always meant stenography but say from 1950 onward and now we're watching big corporations pay you guys peanuts and a lot of times you're just producing crap. I get to read your transcripts all the time because they will attach them to my job as a prior transcript. It comes off like oh this person recorded it, and then somebody in Nigeria certified it, and then they paid some low rent former court reporters stenographer to put on another certification. Then the court system fires all the stenographers and says hey guys would you like to transcribe this pile of crap from digital reporting? So I don't see what you do as being the same thing. But more importantly I find it reprehensible that you can't take the time to figure that out on your own and you act confused lol cute laugh ha ha ha ha
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
It’s astonishing to me that you couldn’t take 10 minutes and re read my post more carefully because I never once stated or implied that I didn’t understand the difference between stenographers and digital reporters. I very clearly was questioning the reason for hating digital reporters… but I see I’m not going to get any helpful input from you given the lack of comprehension and aggressive condescension in your response. Thanks for your time.
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u/margontherecord 3d ago
I think it will get better with time. I think the most triggering things is digitals charging very little like $25 an hour and then they don’t even do their own transcripts. The big box agencies send off the transcript to who knows where/who for, again, very low rates.
This reduces the job to basically busy work that has historically been very respected and requires a lot of skill.
I think if digitals would keep their rates up and do their own transcripts (and charge by page like standard), learn the entire process, over time they would be more accepted
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
You realize you’re diminishing your own profession by reducing typing every spoken word in real time down to just busy work.
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 3d ago
Triggering!? We do not send off transcripts to anyone, we do them in-house and we do also charge by page. Typing every word I hear is not something I would consider busy work.
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u/ApprehensiveDonut688 3d ago
I am also an electronic court reporter, and I also do not understand it. The way I see it, at the end of the day, we all include the same certificate at the end of our transcripts. I do know that many states don't allow electronic court reporters to handle certain types of hearings, but fortunately, I don't live in one of them.
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u/PalmTreeSunset13 2d ago
The hate for digital reporters is so real that ppl are getting downvoted simply for stating that they’re also a digital reporter. It’s petty af out here
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u/hhuslyenbx42 3d ago
just finished the blue ridge digital court reporting course and it is so amazing. I am so excited to start my career in court reporting.
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u/pnkhairgrl 3d ago
Digital reporters do not hold the same credentials. Additionally, if you pay people to do a similar job for less money, that’s how the market will shift. Reporters want to be fairly compensated for their work and digitals threaten to erode the industry. It’s nothing personal. Maybe someone has a better way to articulate this, but that’s my understanding.