It started with a question from a journalism student. She was struggling with shorthand and asked how imperative it was to secure a job. Her tutors had told her it was optional but she was worried she wouldn’t get hired without it. My instinct was to go for it. Shorthand played a big part in my career. First were my experiences, as a trainee, in Mrs Mawston’s sitting room in Whitley Bay every Wednesday afternoon. Then, when I ran courses at the Editorial Centre in Hastings, gaining 100 words was essential. One editor asked me to pass on this message: “If you don’t have shorthand, you are a liability in my newsroom. I can’t send you to court or council and, in a small team, you will need to slope off for extra lessons when you should be out gathering stories. My message is simple. Get your shorthand at Hastings or don’t come back.” We put his words on the noticeboard. You can imagine the pressure. The brilliant Sylvia Bennett delivered 75-minute sessions first thing every morning followed by another hour from midday to 1pm. She had a great success rate.
Apart from being a required tool, having shorthand also added to your professionalism. I recall the judge who, having studied a reporter’s shorthand note, advised the jury that this was “not a hack but a professional man”. Then there was the case of England football manager Glenn Hoddle being interviewed by Matt Dickinson of The Times. Hoddle told Dickinson that he believed disabled people and others were being punished for their sins in a former life. In the argument that followed, and Hoddle leaving the job, Dickinson’s professional shorthand note was critical ... both to his reputation and Hoddle’s future.
But while my ‘old school’ instincts were leaning one way, I also knew that when I have helped recruit trainees for online newsrooms, a lack of shorthand has never been a deal-breaker. In America and Australia, it doesn’t even get a mention. And sub-editors certainly don’t need it. After I became a sub, the only time I used my hard-earned Teeline was for Christmas present lists. In the last ten years, print newsdesks are the only people who have insisted on it.
What today’s editors think
So, I asked twenty regional and national editors how important shorthand is when recruiting.
For Claire Lewis, editor of the Sheffield Star, it is a must. She says: “I think reporters these days simply have to be all-rounders. And without shorthand, I struggle to see how they can be. All my reporters know that they can be called upon to cover court and inquests, for which shorthand is essential.”
Gavin Foster, editor of The Northern Echo, also takes a firm line: “I absolutely still see it as an essential skill. Technology can’t always be relied upon and batteries run out! And until courts become fully open to recording proceedings, then it is the only way I can be confident that reporters can take full verbatim notes. Editors at Newsquest still insist upon it. And if reporters haven’t got it, they need to work towards it.”
Sarah Lester, editor of the Manchester Evening News, says: “I wouldn’t hire a senior reporter without shorthand. There are, however, some roles in the newsroom that don’t need it, such as social video journalists so we need to be able to train and develop journalists along different pathways. It is important that journalists don’t cut themselves off from one route by deciding they don’t want to learn shorthand because it’s a bit hard.”
Metro editor Deborah Arthurs says: “It’s useful for news in some situations but in reality, most departments no longer use it. Our teams do not do much court reporting, if any, which is one factor. If you ask a news-editor, you’ll get a different answer to the one you would get if you ask a lifestyle, entertainment or short video editor.”
The title’s executive editor Richard Hartley-Parkinson, on the other hand, puts shorthand top of the list: “Transcribing recordings takes forever. AI goes some way to cancelling this out but you can’t take recordings in courts. There’s also the advantage that, with creating your own shorthand blends, what you write can’t easily be read by others, thus protecting your exclusives if there’s a rival looking over your shoulder.”
Ben Bailey, global editorial director of MailOnline, takes a pragmatic view: “When I was starting out as a junior reporter, it felt like having shorthand let you into an exclusive club.
“That being said, I no longer believe it is an essential requirement for all modern journalists — many of whom may never use it after training.
“It can be invaluable for reporters — and of course is fundamental for court reporting. But technology has changed so rapidly that young journalists can now use modern tech not just to capture quotes and record their own voice notes but also to transcribe them instantaneously.”
James Mitchinson, editor of The Yorkshire Post, says: “Whether or not shorthand is important depends on whether you want to be a journalist that can do everything or a journalist that doesn’t and can’t. There is no shame, either, in wanting to specialise in something that will never, ever require shorthand. A 1,000-word paginated experience piece about ‘the best things I discovered at Malton Christmas Market’ is without question great content that will distract and delight its readers. It is great content that can be created by both the traditionally, properly, fully trained journalist and the content creator alike.
“Then there are employment tribunals, court hearings, inquests. Matters of public interest carried out in public settings, the details of which can only be captured by someone trained and qualified in shorthand. The content creator, with no shorthand, must sit those stories out. Sensitive accounts told breathlessly by whistleblowers who refuse to be recorded or filmed, longhand is going to seriously hinder your ability to capture it all accurately.
“I think that it is for each individual, setting out on their career path, to decide for themselves. However, if you want to do it all, from serious public interest journalism to the multi-format experience pieces, you have to have all of the tools.”
But for Amanda Bourn, editor of National World’s northern weeklies, shorthand isn’t a prerequisite: “A candidate stands out if they have shorthand on their CV but a lot of interviewing is done over the phone, not face-to-face, so reporters can easily record the conversations if they need an accurate note. There are apps which will record the chat and transcribe the conversations back for you.
“The Local Democracy Reporters cover councils for us, agencies provide court copy and a lot of meetings or hearings are recorded so they can be watched back at the reporter’s leisure. Starting work as a trainee reporter without shorthand skills was unfathomable thirty years ago, but we are not producing the same content as we did back then. Now, I think it’s more important to have video skills, to constantly ‘think pictures’, to have a sixth sense for the type of content which will resonate with your audience and to adopt a holistic approach when it comes to producing it.”
The Society of Editors doesn’t have an official position but executive editor Dawn Alford would encourage all young journalists to take it. “There are still areas of reporting where digital recordings aren’t allowed, and let’s face it — technology can fail us. Batteries die, recordings glitch, and in those moments, shorthand is your backup and your best ally. Many of us learned as trainees that paper, a pen, and shorthand were our primary tools, and I think they still hold an indispensable place in modern journalism.”
What employers look for
Two years ago, the NCTJ carried out a consultation which concluded that 82 per cent of employers considered shorthand to be ‘essential’, ‘desirable’ or ‘essential for some roles and not others’. The details are here.
Of the 31 NCTJ courses, 28 still offer shorthand. But it isn’t essential. You can pass the gold standard by getting an A to C in all modules taken. The essential ones are journalism, law, ethics and a portfolio of work. Shorthand is optional.
So, when push comes to shove, is shorthand essential? I asked the twenty editors to list the top attributes / skills they look for when taking on a new starter. This is what they said:
- Attitude
- News sense / news obsessed
- People skills / interviewing
- Cross platform knowledge
- Writing skills
- Shorthand
Just over half of the editors put attitude in first place. I couldn’t agree more. I have encountered many journalists who weren’t the best writers but succeeded because they would come in early, stay late and tackle every job with enthusiasm. I also know many with massive potential who fell by the wayside after sitting on their hands and moaning about their hours and colleagues. I used to tell trainees that journalism was 60 per cent attitude and 40 per cent skill. Recently, an editor told me he disagreed — it’s 80/20, he said.
Editor at the Guernsey Press, James Falla, has no doubt that attitude is top of the list. His mantra is “hire for attitude, train for skill”.
Last word to Maria Breslin, editor of the Liverpool Echo: “I have no doubt shorthand will become obsolete in the near future but think we should tread carefully until that point. While it is still required in some, though ever-decreasing, parts of the industry we should persevere in making it appear relevant to students who want to keep their options open.” So, there you have it ... a good attitude is vital and shorthand is hugely important. It will certainly do you no harm to have both.
This article was first published in InPublishing magazine. If you would like to be added to the free mailing list to receive the magazine, please register here.
