RELATED REPORTING CAREERS

Webcasting and Reporting to the Internet
Reporters are capturing sales meetings, press conferences, product introductions and technical training seminars and instantly transmitting them to all parties involved via computers. As participants speak into telephones or microphones, the words appear on everyone’s computers, accompanied by any relevant documents or graphics.

Reporters write accurately at speeds in excess of 200 words per minute. In addition, their technology enables participants to receive text via the Internet, an online service or their own Intranet, all without any special hardware.

In addition to the IT careers for those with realtime skills, there are several options for persons who obtain basic reporting training and proficiency:

Scopists
Judicial reporters utilize scopists to edit and proofread transcripts while the reporters work in court or take a deposition. A scopist electronically receives a rough copy of a proceeding, checks for any “mistranslates,” or terms that were not in the reporter’s computer dictionary, makes any necessary edits, ensures the transcript is in the requested format and sends the edited and proofread transcript back to the reporter for a final review.

Information Reporting/Rapid Data Entry
Hospitals, insurance companies and many other businesses have mounds of data that need to be entered into their computer systems. Using the stenotype for word processing is significantly faster than normal typing. While very fast typists can input text at about 100 words per minute, persons trained as court reporters can input text much more quickly — 200 words per minute and faster.

Medical/Legal Transcription
Transcriptionists specialize in medical or legal language and related documentation and interpret and transcribe dictation by physicians, lawyers or other healthcare and legal professionals. In a legal setting, they transcribe such audio recordings as initial client meetings, instructions for written documents such as contracts, wills and trusts, motions to be researched by paralegals or letters to co-counsel or opposing parties.

In a medical setting, they typically transcribe audio dictations regarding patient assessment, workup, therapeutic procedures, clinical course, diagnosis, prognosis, etc. In both settings transcriptionists may edit dictated material for grammar and clarity as necessary and appropriate. Persons with basic judicial reporter skills and a computer-aided transcription system can transcribe and enter the material at speeds up to 225 words per minute.