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Journalism lecturer questions the future of shorthand
An age-old tool for reporters is under fire from AUT University’s journalism curriculum leader.
Dr Martin Hirst, associate professor at the School of Communication Studies, is questioning the use of shorthand in today’s media world.
An abbreviated symbolic written code that increases writing speed, shorthand has been used by generations of reporters.
In his blog Ethical Martini, Dr Hirst says he is not convinced shorthand is a “necessary skill for 21st century journalists”.
“It is an antiquated technology that can easily be replaced with a variety of cheap, easy-to-use…digital recording devices”.
“How do you podcast shorthand?”
However, the New Zealand Journalist Training Organisation (NZJTO) makes shorthand a compulsory curriculum for student journalists.
Shorthand teacher Sarah McKenzie says it is best to rely on both digital recordings and shorthand when it comes to note-taking, because “sure as eggs anything mechanical will let you down”.
She says the future of shorthand is secure as long as it continues to be a standard requirement set by the NZJTO. Some states in Australia have already stopped using shorthand in journalism training.
“It is beneficial to learn shorthand. With shorthand, it will be a lot easier for you to search and find your quotes rather than having to listen to your entire recording. Imagine that,” says Mrs McKenzie.
She says she enjoys shorthand because it brings out her creative side, allowing her to create different outlines and looking at various ways of putting words down.
“Shorthand is a safety net. It is a skill for anyone and should be brought back to schools.”
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Te Waha Nui is written and edited by student journalists on the Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Bachelor of Communication Studies courses at AUT University. Views expressed are those of the editorial team and contributors and not of the University
I support Dr Hirst’s claims. I have personally met a variety of journalists who prefer not to use shorthand, because it isn’t practical, anymore so than writing what is being said on a peice of paper and in English.
The age-old practice of writing in shorthand, although compulsory, is something that is being less and less used in todays profession. There is no need for it to be honest. Journalists now-a-day use voice recorders and other technologies that makes their job easier.
At the end of the day, doing away with shorthand is a natural progression of a journalist and what ever gets the job done quicker than usual will most likely be the more commonly used.
Let’s ditch the Shorthand methods that the archaic NZ “system” insist upon! Note how it is mainly NZ that holds onto this old system, resuscitated by people who love doing squiggly bits of artwork! Most journalists are not so ‘artistic’ and get all the story facts without shorthand, especially with a combo of audio recorder, cam-phones and basic note taking. When shorthand was developed it wasn’t actually for journalists anyway… It was for secretaries and legal clerks. It has *ALSO* been proven that the time spent learning it, compared to *ACTUAL USE* today, it not in equal proportion, when considering the equally applied use of audio recording devices. However, there is still a need for a type of ’shorthand’ (it has become a generic term) that is more related to how people jot down notes, aspects and structural outlines of stories. For this, there is a *SPECIAL* type of shorthand called ‘Personal Shorthand’ that is nothing like the torture of the original models (there are about 8!)… “PS” (Personal Shorthand) uses the normal alphabet!! I learned PS and it only took (about) a week to get really good results. The best week invested in my career to date. The books for PS are available from their copyright owners at: http://www.eralearning.com (or Amazon and specialist retailers). Don’t be fooled by their ugly green (26/6/09) website… The system is well developed from the 1950s-to-1980s and competes VERY well with the three other major players in the shorthand world.