A Brief History Of Shorthand - And Do Journalists Really Need It?

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of shorthand because, as?The Guardian?wrote in 1901: "In a sense, of course, shorthand is as old as literature. Everyone who has ever had occasion to make hasty notes of his (or hers!) has invented a kind of shorthand of his (or her) own."?

Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman presented Pitman shorthand in 1837 – a method which groups the sounds of language into simple categories abbreviated for speed. The hieroglyphical appearance of Pitman’s system is an indicator of its difficulty, and the long hours often put in to learn it.

Pitman proclaimed that "friendships grow six times as fast as under the withering blighting influence of the moon of longhand." Charles Dickens, however, likened mastering ‘the mystery’ of shorthand to learning six new languages. Although, my grandma (a former legal secretary) was pretty good at it and has a certificate for 120 words per minute…

The idea of shorthand as a sort of 'secret language' was certainly an appealing factor to many.

Many Victorians became enthused by shorthand translations of literary works like the stories of Sherlock Holmes which were published in magazines. The idea of shorthand as a sort of ‘secret language’ was certainly an appealing factor to many.?

However, soon people’s opinion of shorthand changed. In her essay about the history of shorthand, Leah Price identifies a shift in the workplace. She notes that, by 1901, a speaker at a stenographers’ (shorthand) club, argued that it was "degrading for a strong, healthy man to be occupied all day long in using the pen upon what was little more than copying words." As Price puts it: "Women’s delicate hands began to look like the right tools for turning speech into shorthand", aided also by the commercialisation of the typewriter. By the 1950s, thousands of women across the UK were employed as shorthand typists or secretaries - a similar role to the personal assistant today.

However, while computers and other tech have seen shorthand dwindle in workplaces, a different system is still used in journalism today. Nowadays, you’d be more likely to learn Teeline, a system developed by James Hill, a teacher of the Pitman method who saw the need for it to be made more straightforward. Instead of being based on sounds, Teeline is almost like a simplified alphabet.

The debate rages as to whether journalists actually need shorthand in the world of mobile phones and AI transcription.

Since it was recommended to the NCTJ in 1968, it has been a consistent requirement of many journalism courses across the country. But the debate rages as to whether journalists actually need it in the world of mobile phones and AI transcriptions. In addition, shorthand can be difficult for disabled people who are often faced with a lack of resources.?Its fans say it’s vital though – it’s the only method you can use to record in court, is quicker to transcribe back from, and the battery never fails.???

Check out Alex Ekong’s article for Journo Resources which looks to settle the shorthand debate once and for all ??