Planet Depos Blog
News from Around the PlanetRealtime Writers and Closed Captioning
On April 16, 2013, the Department of Education approved $1,068,870 in discretionary grant funding for Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to invest in training realtime writers to meet the requirements for closed captioning. For many deaf and hard-of-hearing...
Conducting Site Inspections in Mainland China
During the discovery process, site inspections are used to gather evidence relating to an ongoing matter. Conducting a site inspection in China can be intimidating -- and possibly disastrous -- if a qualified professional is not engaged. The videographer you select...
Court Reporters and Television Access
On March 13, 2013, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced S. 555, the Captioning and Image Narration to Enhance Movie Accessibility Act., which essentially amends Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to make it discriminatory for movie complexes...
Courthouse Safety Act of 2013
The National Court Reporters Association, as well as state court reporting associations, are coming together in support of S. 445 and HR 953, the Local Courthouse Safety Act of 2013. Previously S. 2076, the Local Courthouse Safety Act of 2012, supporters are hoping to...
Court Reporting Makes a Comeback
For years states have been working hard to replace their official court reporters with digital audio and video recording systems in an attempt to save their taxpayers money. What they’ve discovered time and again, however, is that court reporters are still a necessary...
Court Reporters – Front and Center in Writing Our History
MoneyCrashers, in its list of top professions, described court reporting as not glamorous or exciting. Dawn Hart and Jan Hamilton, court reporters at Planet Depos with a combined 69 years between them, will tell you otherwise.
Court Reporting – A “Top Job” for 2013
According to “Forbes Magazine” and “MyKelly’s” hottest jobs in 2013, court reporting ranks sixth among professions not requiring a four-year degree. CareerCast ranked court reporting as 68th in its Top 200 Jobs for 2013, and Study.com indicates that the profession...
Audio Sync – Ensuring the Accuracy of the Record
People unfamiliar with the business of court reporting think of stenotype as “outdated.” But the fact is that court reporting technology has advanced to the point that every word court reporters write on their steno machines these days appears instantaneously on an...
My Most Memorable Court Reporting Assignments
Dawn Hart wanted to share some of her most memorable assignments with Planet Depos, “because it’s jobs like these that make her career so indescribably amazing.” Dawn remembers with clarity an assignment that she began in 1989, and that lasted 4 years. It was a family...
Fourth Graders Wowed by Realtime
When my son was in 4th grade, I had the opportunity on Career Day to present to his class a snapshot of court reporting. I gave a slide presentation on the careers of official reporters, freelance reporters and closed captioners. The slideshow explained the different...