Reston, Va., Jan. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The nationwide 2024 Court Reporting & Captioning Week, sponsored by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), will be celebrated by court reporters, captioners, legal videographers and others involved in the legal community Feb. 3-10. 2024 will mark the event’s 12th year of observance and is being celebrated during NCRA’s 125th Anniversary themed: 125 Years of Accuracy and Integrity. NCRA, the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers, was founded in 1899 as the National Shorthand Reporters Association.
To arrange an interview with a working court reporter, captioner, legal videographer, or a current court reporting student, or to learn more about the lucrative and flexible court reporting or captioning professions and the many job opportunities currently available, contact pr@ncra.org.
During the week-long event NCRA members, state affiliates, court reporting schools, students, vendors, and others affiliated with the legal world, come together to promote the stenographic court reporting and captioning professions and showcase why stenographic court reporting and captioning is the gold standard for making the most accurate record. Throughout the week and throughout 2024, NCRA members will also reflect on how their unique set of skills have evolved over time from pen writing to today’s latest technology to capture the spoken word into realtime text.
“Court Reporting & Captioning Week is one of the best celebrations of the year for our profession, and this year we are fortunate enough to also be celebrating our Association’s 125 Anniversary,” NCRA President Kristin M. Anderson, M.A., RPR, FCRR, an official court reporter from Denton, Texas, said.
“It is the perfect opportunity for members of the public who might not be familiar with what stenographic court reporters and captioners do to learn more about the profession and the vital role we play in the judicial system, the business world, and in providing access to information to those in the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities,” Anderson said.
To help mark the week, NCRA offers members, state affiliates, court reporting schools, and others access to a 2024 Court Reporting & Captioning resources page that provides a catalog of customizable press release templates, media advisories, social media messages, information about securing official proclamations, videos, and more.
“Throughout the week our members will be issuing press releases announcing the week to their local media outlets, participating in career fairs at local high schools, showcasing what steno is at state or local courthouses, hosting Veteran History Project events, obtaining an official proclamation recognizing the week and the profession by state and local leaders, and more,” Anderson said.
“I am encouraging all of our members to participate in the 2024 event so that collectively we can let the world know about this hidden gem of a profession and the vast opportunities it offers, no matter whether steno is being used to capture the official record or provide access to vital information, entertainment, education, or more to someone who is deaf or hard of hearing,” she added.
Court reporters and captioners rely on the latest in technology to use stenographic machines to capture the spoken word and translate it into written text in real time. These professionals work both in and out of the courtroom recording legal cases and depositions, providing live captioning of events, and assisting members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with gaining access to information, entertainment, educational opportunities, and more.
If you’re looking for a career that is on the cutting edge of technology, offers the opportunity for work at home or abroad, like to write, enjoy helping others, and are fast with your fingers, then the fields of court reporting and captioning are careers you can explore at NCRA/discoversteno.org.
The NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program, a free online six-week introductory course, lets participants see if a career in court reporting or captioning would be a good choice for them. The program is an introduction to stenographic theory and provides participants with the opportunity to learn the basics of writing on a steno machine. There is no charge to take the course, but participants are required to have access to a steno machine or an iPad they can use to download the iStenoPad app.
About NCRA
The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has been internationally recognized for promoting excellence among those who capture and convert the spoken word to text for more than 100 years. NCRA is committed to supporting its more than 12,000 members in achieving the highest level of professional expertise with educational opportunities and industry-recognized court reporting, educator, and videographer certification programs. NCRA impacts legislative issues and the global marketplace through its actively involved membership. NCRA’s STRONG Committee promotes stenographic captioning and court reporting as the best means to maintain the accuracy of the record. One of its missions is to combat false proclamations that digital and automatic speech recognition (ASR) methods of capturing the spoken word are equal to superior to stenographic means and/or that these methods are less expensive.
Forbes has named court reporting as one of the best career options that do not require a traditional four-year degree. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the court reporting field is expected to be one of the fastest areas of projected employment growth across all occupations. According to 247/WallSt.com, the court reporting profession ranks sixth out of 25 careers with the lowest unemployment rate, just 0.7 percent. Career information about the court reporting profession—one of the leading career options that do not require a traditional four-year degree—can be found at NCRA DiscoverSteno.org.
