Why Modern Courts and Newsrooms Still Refuse to Kill Traditional Shorthand

An essential feature on Why Modern Courts and Newsrooms Still Refuse to Kill Traditional Shorthand, covering in-depth facts.

In the United Kingdom and across Commonwealth jurisdictions, the National Council for the Training of Journalists does not treat shorthand as an optional historic skill. Attaining a verified speed of 100 wpm with 99% accuracy remains mandatory for the gold-standard NCTJ journalism qualification. Editors refuse to waver on this policy for reasons grounded directly in statutory law.

Section 9 of the UK Contempt of Court Act 1981 makes it an offense punishable by imprisonment to bring an active sound recording device into a courtroom without express judicial permission. A cub reporter equipped solely with an iPhone or digital voice recorder cannot work inside a Crown Court. If an unexpected witness gives explosive testimony, the journalist without shorthand sits helpless. The reporter armed with Teeline writes freely, generating a fully legal, contemporaneous written record without breaching court rules.

Contemporaneous notes serve as an ironclad defense against defamation claims. When a public figure sues a publication over a disputed quote, high court judges demand to see original notebooks. A handwritten notebook, showing chronological pagination, contextual margins, and rapid Teeline outlines, carries massive evidentiary weight in libel defense. Digital audio files, by contrast, invite claims of selective editing, metadata tampering, or unauthorized distribution.