Abstract
If only we shorthand lovers could have been there to report George Galloway's famous words to Saddam Hussain in 1994, a fine peroration by a then Labour MP to a then living tyrant: “Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability.”
What an outline – and so much simpler than it sounds. The “in-de–fatig” is straightforward and of course there's a symbol for “ability”, though with these long words it's easy to hear more syllables than there are, always a hazard once the adrenaline is pumping. Happily, it's a word that sticks in the head, rather than one to puzzle over as you transcribe your note.
After all these years it's still in mine, generally as a doodle to ward off narcolepsy in boring meetings. Now that shorthand is no longer to be regarded as an essential skill, we must hope there will be journalists who recognise such outlines in another 20 years. Generations have marvelled at the short form for “ladies and gentlemen”, the symbol for “accident”, the elegance with which the long strokes for “h” and “p” become one line for “hope”. The craft must continue.
The change to the special status of shorthand is under discussion at the National Council for the Training of Journalists, the educational charity that oversees training in this country (of which I am chairman). For years, you couldn't achieve the important NCTJ qualification – a ticket to a career in the industry – without getting at least 100 words a minute in shorthand. With so much journalism in new forms that demand previously unimagined skills, it's time to recognise that some journalists can get through life without it.
I'm no expert, of course. The 120 words a minute in Teeline that I recorded as a cub reporter were eclipsed by courtroom and parliamentary staff who reached more than 200 in Pitman, a comprehensive script that is too complex for most journalists to master. Nor could I compete with the colleague on The Daily Telegraph who had developed covert recording long before iPhones allowed us to create a perfect copy of any conversation. With a pencil stub and a small pad secreted in his trouser pocket, he could take a note with his right hand while drinking from a pint in his left. An arcane skill – but invaluable, he claimed, in conversation with union leaders and detective sergeants.
Of course, by no means all journalists have shorthand today, just as there are some who don't know what sub judice means or why snappers get cross when the writer refers to them as “my photographer”. I've always liked the principle that this is a trade you can practise without any examined skill to your name. The only requirement is to find someone willing to publish your story or to create your own publication. But for years, those looking to climb any kind of career ladder – say local to regional to national – have found it hard to ascend without supplying some objective evidence that they are safe to send out on a story Certainly, employers have expected shorthand of the reporters at courtrooms and council chambers.
That is one of the reasons the NCTJ has fought over the years to insist on shorthand, despite trainee journalists finding it a pain to master and universities resenting having to add a non-academic subject to their journalism courses. In an industry where applicants outnumber places, it's also been a useful indicator of real application. Anyone who takes the trouble to master shorthand demonstrates genuine interest. Finally, at a time many people who say they want to be journalists actually mean they want to be celebrity television presenters, shorthand is a useful bulwark against ego: to take a note, you have to listen to what other people are saying.
This is categorically not the end for shorthand. We want courses to continue to offer it and we shall encourage trainees to learn it. Those who don't should know they are reducing the number of openings available to them. You may not hear a lot about shorthand at websites, but it is a skill editors at newspapers – and indeed at broadcasters – remain keen on. It's all very well running around with a digital recorder, but it's quicker to leaf through a notebook for the quote than to play the talk again.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get to the stationery shop for a new pencil. If you are looking to make a good impression, I recommend the Pentel Twist-Erase, 0.7mm, pimped with 2H lead. Good grip, hard wearing, one for the pros.
