Documenting Courtroom Dramas

By Austin Brentley
Career Training Directory Columnist

If you have ever watched courtroom dramas, you have probably seen a stenographer, court reporter, or transcriber at work. Sitting silently in the corner, the court transcriber busily types away at a shorthand word processor or typewriter to capture everything that is said or done in the courtroom. As you can imagine, this can be very tedious, difficult work that requires nimble fingers and a lot of training. But recent technological advances have helped lessen the load for modern court transcribers.

Digital Transcription

Just as you won’t find typewriters in the workplace anymore, you probably won’t find old-fashioned stenographs in the modern courtroom. Thanks to digital transcription, our legal system can rely on potentially more accurate ways of recording everything that happens during a court case. Some courtrooms use digital recorders that capture sound on a tape or disk. These files are then transcribed at a later date by a person or machine. Many courtrooms use digital transcribers that automatically transfer sound to paper or disk without needing any human intervention at all.

Is This the Death of the Court Transcriber?

It seems that in many industries, digital technology is replacing the need for real people. How often do you actually pay a parking attendant these days? Why go to a bank teller when the ATM is more convenient? So does digital transcription mean that court transcribers are no longer needed? Not necessarily.

The US Department of Labor predicts steady growth in this field for the next eight years. At present, there is still some uncertainty surrounding digital technology. Given how important court records are, most judges don’t want to leave anything to chance. Digital transcription and voice recognition technology are still not 100% reliable, and thus, they are used in conjunction with more traditional methods. A real-life court transcriber still needs to go over and proofread transcriptions to check for accuracy. However, if digital transcription technology continues to improve, court reporters and transcribers could one day become obsolete.

About the Author

A freelance writer and researcher, Austin Brentley is an English teacher currently living and working in Yamaguchi, Japan. His previous experience includes working for a lobbying firm in his native Washington, DC and working for various record and television studios in New York. Austin holds a B.A. in history