Shorthand is a skill that should not be abandoned
Dani Wozencroft
We live in a hi-tech age. But Dani Wozencroft (pictured), a former Shropshire Star senior reporter and radio station news editor, says shorthand is a skill that should not be abandoned
Shorthand - it’s something that splits opinion - and people love to argue about it. I remember at the Journalism Skills Conference at The Mailbox in Birmingham in 2015, hosted by the BBC, there was a huge divide in the room when the NCTJ first mooted the idea of removing shorthand as one of the mandatory modules of the Diploma in Journalism.
It’s vital, it’s essential, it’s always there to rely on.
It’s not needed, it’s old-fashioned, it’s a waste of time.
I’ve heard it all - and I happen to believe the former.
I teach the NCTJ Diploma at City of Wolverhampton College, still work as a freelancer in journalism and PR and also happen to have been a member of the shorthand exam board for the NCTJ since 2017.
Since I graduated from the University of Brighton I’ve seen the journalism landscape change dramatically. I am now proud to work hard to ensure we at City of Wolverhampton College are always producing the best possible trainee journalists to join any newsroom across the country.
And to do that I talk to a lot of people - a lot of people. What do editors want? What do editors need?
It’s true, there are those (mainly in TV/radio) who do not care one jot about shorthand and if their new employees can write in what they think is gobbledygook at 100wpm.
But there are many others who maintain it is a vital skill to have.
I would argue, amid the rise of digital journalism, the need for shorthand has actually increased. Yes, we need to be first with a story – but, as has been the way for centuries, the most important aspect of your story is accuracy.
Shorthand is vital in being accurate, especially at speed. There will be rumours circulating online and people speculating, but nothing can ever replace the accuracy of speaking to an official source on the telephone and writing down what they say at speed with a pen and paper. And that moment when you go out to talk to people about a story and your phone battery dies because you’ve been live Tweeting, making videos on iMovie for the radio website and taking calls from the newsdesk too… shorthand is still there. Or that moment you walk into court and you can’t record what people are saying but you’re struggling to keep up with an accurate note… you can, if you’ve mastered shorthand.
There is one occasion in my career where I recall shorthand being rendered useless. Just one. Standing in a muddy field, covering an event, while it was raining. I would be well impressed to see pictures of those journalists who have mastered holding an umbrella while also conducting an interview and taking notes.
But besides those age old arguments of why shorthand is vital, I would ask: why not? It is a great skill to have, it impresses in interviews, sets you apart from other candidates and also opens up doors for you. I always say to anyone looking to do an NCTJ course, do one with shorthand included because you never know where you might end up working or what you want to do in life. You might have your heart set on radio or being a trending journalist where you don’t need it, but why count yourself out from working on your local paper? Or Sky News? Or countless other organisations that value shorthand. We have had a number of apprentices actually ask if shorthand can be added to their programme of study because in their words ‘what’s the point in not doing it while I’m learning journalism skills, it looks amazing and I want to know it’. For our Diploma students, it is a must.
