| The Senate and the House have passed a bill that will | | | | enrollment in court reporting schools plummeted. |
| provide grants to educate court reporters specializing | | | | Many schools closed and the number of graduates |
| in realtime communication. These reporters will provide | | | | dwindled. The average court reporting agency saw |
| captioning for live television broadcasts, improving | | | | their staff decline by 10% over this period. The 2006 |
| access for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. | | | | deadline came and went and the caption goal was not |
| A Short History of Captioning | | | | met. The reporters needed just weren't there. Schools |
| In 1980, American television started broadcasting the | | | | were educating only half the realtime reporters |
| first closed-captioned programs. These broadcasts | | | | needed. |
| had subtitles so that deaf and hard of hearing viewers | | | | A New Initiative to Train Court Reporters |
| could enjoy programs along with everyone else. | | | | The Higher Education Reauthorization bill was |
| Initially, these captions were limited to pre-recorded | | | | introduced into Congress in 2007. Part of this bill was a |
| broadcasts. However there was soon a demand for | | | | program of grants to educate certified court reporters |
| captions on news, sporting events, and other live | | | | to meet the demands of realtime captioning. |
| programs. This created a need for people who could | | | | Interested parties watched as the bill made its way |
| transcribe the spoken word in real time. | | | | through the tortuous paths of the federal government. |
| Certified court reporters have been doing this for | | | | In February 2008 the bill was passed by the House of |
| decades. Many reporters left the courtrooms for jobs | | | | Representatives and in July it passed the Senate. |
| at television stations. Despite the rise in captioning, | | | | As of this writing, the bill awaits the President's |
| many programs were still broadcast without captions | | | | signature and advocates of the measure are |
| making them inaccessible to many viewers. | | | | cautiously optimistic that it will become a reality later |
| Increased Demand for Realtime-Certified Court | | | | this year. |
| Reporters | | | | The grants offered by this bill will offer incentive to |
| In 1996, in response to public pressure as well as the | | | | aspiring court reporters and should increase enrollment. |
| Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Congress | | | | Over time, this should increase the supply of certified |
| passed the Telecommunications Act. This mandated | | | | court reporters and ease the burden felt by both |
| that all new English television broadcasts must be | | | | television stations and courtrooms over the lack of |
| captioned by 2006. It also required an increasing | | | | qualified candidates. |
| percentage of old programs be captioned. | | | | It will take time before the effects of the bill are felt in |
| The demand for certified court reporters skyrocketed | | | | the industry. It is but one step in the process. |
| as television stations searched in vain for people skilled | | | | Organizations such as the National Court Reporters |
| in realtime captioning. Unfortunately as demand went | | | | Association continue to educate the public on the need |
| up, the supply went down. Driven in part by fear that | | | | for more court reporters in the future. |
| technology would make the profession obsolete, | | | | |