PITMAN TRAINING CENTRE CITY of  LONDON  

 

   ( 020 7256 6668

   

"Without shorthand I would not have been able to take the notes, or write the story, so thank you for teaching me Teeline!"

John O'Doherty, The FT  (City University Journalism student)

 

Why Shorthand...

  • The media needs professional, well-trained journalists with a wide range of communication skills - just as it always has done. The media now plays a larger part in everyone's daily life

  • Getting the facts right has always been the number one priority for any reporter
    Now society is more litigious than ever and there are more legal traps for poorly trained journalists to fall into

  • Law books are littered with the proviso that a report is protected only if it is "fair and accurate"

  • The Press Complaints Commission states in its code of practice that newspapers must take care not to publish inaccurate material

There has been a marked increase in the demand for 100 wpm shorthand for journalists since journalist Andrew Gilligan interviewed Dr David Kelly for Radio Four's Today programme! Act responsibly - make sure that you can produce adequate notes and sources of all your interviews and conversations.

 
  4 particular reasons to learn shorthand...
 


A Journalism Trainee:

"The news editor said he had noticed that I wasted quite a lot of time phoning people back to check facts.  He told me that Helen, the other trainee had a good shorthand speed of 100 wpm and seemed to get it right first time."

 

A Freelance Journalist:

 "You have to be first with the story.  You really don't have the time to play back a taped interview.  Your note has to be full and accurate. The last thing you want is someone complaining that you misquoted them.  You will just stop getting assignments."

 

A Budding Reporter:

"The boss sent me to court with a senior reporter today. You really need to concentrate.  I just wish my shorthand was as good as hers".

 

A Football Club Chairman:

"He seemed a nice lad. He asked me all the right questions but he got it all wrong.  I thought he was struggling to get it down in his notebook.  He missed out the important quotes about my plans for the future and he reported me as saying that the 'fans' views were a waste of time'. Actually I said 'fans' views were with me all the time'.  You only misquote me once!"

 

 

Remember that...

  • Fast accurate shorthand is probably more important than ever before

  • 100 wpm is the shorthand speed a working journalist should attain

  • This is challenging for students and for teachers, but high standards are absolutely essential

 

If Shorthand is not part of your official course but you would like to learn...

 

Register your interest NOW...

 

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Your Pitman contact details

Margaret Liddell
Tel: 020 7256 6668

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Copyright 2013

PITMAN TRAINING CENTRE

LONDON  EC2