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History of Court Reporting
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In the 4th century B.C., a freed slave, Marcus Tullius Tiro, used a system of shorthand to record the speeches of Cicero and other Roman orators and leaders. One of his shorthand devices, the ampersand, (the familiar "&" symbol), is still used today. To the left you can see a specimen of Tironean Notes by Tiro. |
A sample of Bright's method for alphabetic signs. |
The first system approaching fully phonetic writing was devised by Timothe Bright, who in 1588 published a shorthand treatise dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I. It and similar systems became popular with scholars and ministers of writing letters and sermons. |
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The year 1750 saw the publication of the shorthand system of Thomas Gurney, the first official reporter of parliamentary debates in England. Before becoming famous as a writer, Charles Dickens practiced as parliamentary reporter. His struggles to learn shorthand became subplot in David Copperfield. |
 Gregg
System |
 The
Pitman
System of shorthand was introduced in 1837 and was followed
50 years later by the Gregg System of Shorthand, which still is taught in
some areas for non-reporting uses. |
KeyBoard |
Modern shorthand began with the introduction in 1913 of the stenotype machine, the most reliable and flexible means yet devised for creating a verbatim record. By pressing one or more keys at a time, reporters capture the sound of words in a phonetic code, with each line of characters usually representing one sound or syllable. Today these notes usually are printed on a narrow paper tape and simultaneously captured in computer format. |
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Reporters were computerized starting more than 20 years ago - long before most of the court systems and attorneys they serve. With advances in technology, today's court reporters are information managers. |
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