Court Reporting & Captioning Week Is Feb 6-13, 2021

ATHENS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES, February 8, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Texas Court Reporters Association (TCRA) joins the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) in celebrating Court Reporting & Captioning Week February 6 – 13, 2021. The weeklong celebration is aimed at highlighting the importance of the profession while at the same time raising awareness about pursuing a career in the field.

Court reporters, captioners, state court reporter associations, and court reporting schools nationwide will host an array of activities, including showcasing the profession at career fairs, conducting Veterans History Project interviews to support the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, volunteering to lead an NCRA A to Z^® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program, media outreach, and more. Professionals in the field will use these opportunities to demonstrate how the stenographic machine works to capture the spoken word and translate it into written text in real time. Stories will be shared with the public about how they became involved in the profession, the interesting events they have reported on, and why their career choice has proven to be one of the best decisions they’ve made.

Court reporters and captioners play an important role in and out of the courtroom. Court reporters are also called stenographers. For some, the term stenographer may conjure up antiquated images of the stenographer of yesteryear. The modern-day stenographer, however, is anything but antiquated. Court reporters and captioners combine their creative shorthand skills utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and software to accurately capture the spoken word in a most fascinating manner. In a split second, the spoken word is accurately translated into readable form with the skill of the court reporter and captioner.

While the world may tinker with speech recognition software for less-important tasks like texting and can enjoy a good laugh at the inaccuracies, the human court reporter is essential for legal proceedings and the deaf and hard-of-hearing community to ensure an accurate record of events. Court reporters utilize their skills to accurately capture every word spoken in courtrooms, in lawyers’ offices taking depositions, in state offices reporting administrative hearings, and in the United States Capitol. Captioners use their skills to aid people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to be able to participate in classrooms and meetings and to fully understand what is happening on the news, television programs, live sporting events, and in entertainment venues.
There is a growing number of opportunities in the court reporting and captioning field. To acquire this skill, one needs specialized in-depth training outside of the traditional college setting. Many court reporters and captioners enjoy a quicker entrance into the workforce with good salaries, flexibility, and opportunities to work in interesting venues. 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.

TCRA strives to promote the profession of a career in court reporting and captioning to high school students, career changers, college redirects, and veterans. There is a free, six-week program that offers attendees the opportunity to learn to write the alphabet on a steno machine to discover if a career in court reporting or captioning is suited for them.

In the legal community, Texas is fortunate to have rules and statutes in place to ensure that only certified stenographers can be entrusted to preserve the record in important legal proceedings because the integrity of the record is crucial. “But you still need to be careful,” TCRA President Mellony Ariail warns. “There are many instances when someone shows up to report a deposition and utilizes an unauthorized method violating Texas statutes. Make sure that who you hire is certified so that your case isn't negatively affected.”

The Texas Court Reporters Association invites any organization in Texas to reach out to us for more on what to look out for and to request us to speak on the topic at your event.

About TCRA
The Texas Court Reporters Association is the leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, broadcast captioners, and CART captioners (Communication Access Realtime Translation). TCRA was established in 1939 and is recognized for promoting excellence, maintaining high standards in court reporting in the state of Texas, and impacting legislative issues through its actively involved membership. TCRA currently has over 1,100 members.

Brooke Ingram
Texas Court Reporters Association
+1 903-675-1806
email us here

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