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Training bosses face grilling over planned diploma changes

Journalism trainers have voiced scepticism over plans to revamp the Diploma in Journalism qualification to make shorthand non-compulsory for some students.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists have published draft proposals to change the qualification which would see students choosing different modules based on which career pathway they intended to follow.

While shorthand would remain compulsory for all students following the ‘news journalism’ pathway, it would become non-compulsory for those choosing broadcast journalism, magazine journalism or other specialist options.

But journalism course leaders have voiced fears that fewer students would choose shorthand as a result, leading in the longer-term to the demise of the skill.

The proposals have been drawn up by the NCTJ qualifications board chaired by Derby Telelgraph editor Neil White and were debated on Day 2 of the Journalism Skills Conference in Birmingham.

The NCTJ has denied the plans amount to the “death of shorthand” and have invited feedback on the plans, which are likely to be finalised next year.

But Rob Bailey of the University of Kent said:  “If shorthand becomes an elective in most pathways, a lot of institutions will choose not to teach it because it is expensive to deliver.

“As a result we could precipitate the death of shorthand unintentionally,” he added.

Graham Dudman, pictured, a former Sun managing editor who is now an editorial consultant with News Associates, said: “Having an NCTJ qualification without shorthand is like having a driving test without the need to reverse.”

And Roz Mackenzie of Lambeth College questioned whether you could still have a ‘gold standard’ journalism qualification without shorthand.

Regional editors present at the conference also offered differing views on the planned changes.

Asked what she expected from journalists coming into the newsroom, Sunderland Echo editor Joy Yates said: “I want the core skills – and I want shorthand.”

Birmingham Mail editor-in-chief Marc Reeves said he wanted “total flexibility and total adaptibility” both in trainees and training regimes.

“I am a lot more relaxed about the requirement for shorthand…..when it comes to political reporting or court reporting, of course we want shorthand, but I don’t want it to be a barrier for people coming into the industry,” he said.

Other changes suggested by the course leaders included introducing a ‘business of journalism’ element in the qualification to encourage students to learn about changing business models in the industry.

The only mandatory elements of the proposed new-look qualification would be essential journalism, media law and regulation, and ethics.

The qualifications board is due to meet again in January to consider the feedback.

NCTJ chief executive Joanne Butcher admitted that it had “not got everything right” and that there would be changes to draft plans.

26 comments

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  • November 27, 2015 at 11:53 am
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    I would urge the NCTJ to keep shorthand as one of the core modules. Without it, where is the accurate, contemporaneous note that can be relied upon in court?

    Tape recorders have batteries which don’t always work, and are hugely time-consuming to transpose compared to shorthand.

    As for broadcast journalists not needing it, not all media activity is recorded. Remember Andrew Gilligan, who was and is a fine journalist, but who tripped up when making non-shorthand summary notes which, however accurate a summary, were not sufficient to show what had been said in an off-the-record briefing in the infamous Dr Kelly case.

    Without shorthand, how will journalists note what sources tell them? They (sources) won’t welcome being recorded…

    In short, shorthand is a pain in the bum to learn and pass at 100wpm. It took me ages. But it’s still the most useful skill I’ve ever learned, and the NCTJ should keep it as part of the gold standard, in my opinion.

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  • November 27, 2015 at 12:26 pm
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    I’d make shorthand part of the national curriculum – get kids learning at an early age…

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  • November 27, 2015 at 1:10 pm
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    It would be wrong to call someone a journalist if they didn’t have shorthand.
    Could you imagine the Civil Aviation Authority handing pilot licences to people who hadn’t passed their navigation exams? Sure, they have GPS and all manner of electronic aids, but these things occasionally don’t work.

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  • November 27, 2015 at 1:14 pm
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    I fear, Steve, that there is an element of ‘in our day’ about your argument. A pal at Sky News now tells me that he takes notes on his ipad and has a camera piece ready by the time he leaves the court. He is one of the best journalists I know and has never had shorthand. Your point may have validity in parts of what we still call the print media but research showed us that a significant percentage of arenas in which journalists work don’t demand it. Should we just shun them and offer not gold standard in those arenas? And yes, I have my 100 words per minute and passed my proficiency.

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  • November 27, 2015 at 1:51 pm
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    Shameful.
    Is the NCTJ looking after its own interests (get more courses accredited, more people taking its exams), or is it looking after the interests of journalism where (according to the above comments) editors think everyone who is NCTJ qualified should have 100wpm.

    If the NCTJ starts to go against what the industry wants then what is its purpose?

    It is not irreplaceable. It is up to the industry to ensure this does not happen

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  • November 27, 2015 at 2:45 pm
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    With 40 years in journalism- most of them in broadcasting, shorthand has been a vital skill and given me the edge in so many assignments. As Head of Media Law & Ethics at Goldsmiths I think the NCTJ would be making a great mistake compromising this standard. The knowledge that journalists have fast and accurate shorthand means sources and the public will have confidence that what they say will be reported and recorded correctly.

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  • November 27, 2015 at 2:48 pm
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    @Cynic The point is much of the industrydoes not want or demand shorthand.

    Only in newspapers is there demand for shorthand.

    Broadcasters – some do, some don’t.

    Magazines are not bothered at all.

    Times have changed and, as I see the proposals, shorthand will still be a must for those in the newspaper route.

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  • November 27, 2015 at 5:21 pm
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    Thanks, Richard Weston. A brilliant precis of the research and our response. The NCTJ must listen to all parts of the industry because, like it or not, a huge percentage of jobs being offered to students are from outside of the traditional routes. We are responding to those who demand shorthand and public affairs and those who don’t. As a newspaper editor, I will need both for some jobs but I won’t for others. We are trying to be inclusive and diverse. Tim Crook, I agree that shorthand is desirable but I know top-notch broadcast journalists who do not use it. Should the NCTJ just ignore those who want to follow an alternative route?

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  • November 28, 2015 at 6:35 am
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    Why don’t we put Neil White’s opinions out to the public on Facebook to vote on?

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  • November 28, 2015 at 6:36 am
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    Is there a Teeline shorthand form for ‘completely ridiculous and out of touch’ to summarise Neil White’s contribution?

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  • November 28, 2015 at 9:18 am
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    I’m probably old fashioned but having learnt shorthand 50 years ago in a district office where the chief reporter was a shorthand examiner for the NCTJ it has stood me in good stead – both at work and in my daily life. Drives my wife nuts when I take social calls or road routes in shorthand and forget to transcribe them !!

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  • November 28, 2015 at 9:23 am
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    Forgot to add (senior moment): Suggesting journalists shld not need to learn shorthand is like the situation in schools where students no longer HAVE to learn a foreign language – does not go down well abroad. As a freelance corr in Brussels I only had a rudimentary grasp of French – which enabled others to beat me to a story – until I kicked my backside (brain) into gear.

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  • November 29, 2015 at 11:17 am
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    You’ve not convinced me Neil White. Nor have you convinced the 173 individuals who voted on the ‘Shorthand – mandatory or elective skill for NCTJ Diploma’ survey I ran on Twitter at the weekend. 68% said it should remain mandatory (see @SteveDyson for details). OK, shorthand is hard to get, and you have to show real determination to pass it. But why should that mean you remove it from what’s currently a ‘gold standard’ in journalism training? Many, many reasons for it were outlined in dozens of replies to the above Twitter. I’ll be collating these – and more – on my next Htfp blog as part of your ‘consultation period’, Neil.

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  • November 29, 2015 at 3:34 pm
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    Shorthand is difficult to learn and difficult to teach of course. That’s why it is a defining skill and indeed in journalism much more than that. It is a craft and art. The failure of HE and Universities to turn it into an academic subject is a failure of the imagination. Shorthand has a cultural and professional context and has always had. What did Samuel Pepys write his diary in and why? Shorthand was part of the foundation of coding and cryptography. It’s the language of recording and reporting speech, or lexicographical witnessing. Consider how many significant and iconic historical events have turned on the ability of a reporter, author, and witness to make an accurate note. The accomplished journalist with shorthand will always run rings around his/her equivalent without. Yes broadcasters can and should script their Voicers and two-ways while in the courtroom, but when the story breaks with complex, nuanced and fast spoken English will there always be one or two cooperative and able shorthand journalists there to help them? Shorthand is the written language of democracy, liberty and holding power to account. Do we not remember how the late great Sir Charles Wheeler, who when faced with a lecture from John Birt at the BBC, was able to prove that Birt had been saying exactly what he was denying by reading back his shorthand. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7499768.stm

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  • November 29, 2015 at 6:35 pm
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    I rarely needed shorthand as we’d cut back drastically on court and council reporting as the years went by, but I’m glad I know it as it allows me to feel superior when I take notes at my night class.

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  • November 30, 2015 at 6:43 am
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    A TV news presenter doesn’t need shorthand, or can operate perfectly well without it. A sports reporter doesn’t need it, nor does a magazine interviewer. You don’t need shorthand to run a live news blog on a breaking story or to take and edit video shots. You don’t need shorthand to be a news editor (although of course there are occasions where it might help). You can write reviews on the arts without ever needing shorthand. If your job is to tweet from a court, you don’t need shorthand. I could go on. Of course shorthand is still important in some parts of traditional old-school journalism. Difficult to see how you could fully report a court case without it. But it’s not the do-or-die issue it once was and the training should reflect that. What’s the Pitman outline for “Dyson is a dinosaur?”

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  • November 30, 2015 at 9:30 am
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    I am not sure that whipping up your mates to support your view constitutes an independent survey, Steve. In fact, I would consider it an achievement for the NCTJ to have convinced 32% in such a scenario. The fact is that your blog will be unread by those who see the extension of the NCTJ gold standard as important. We aim to be relevant across the industry not to just one sector.

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  • November 30, 2015 at 11:02 am
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    Tim Crook – shorthand isn’t difficult to learn as long as you have a concentration span longer than that of a flea. That’s just the sort of comment that puts people off. I learned Pitmans; my journo husband uses Teeline. It may be difficult to find teachers, but there are plenty of “teach yourself” books available, new and secondhand. Maybe I should start a second career as a shorthand teacher – it would probably pay more than writing!

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  • November 30, 2015 at 11:08 am
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    Idle Rich, I disagree about not needing shorthand. I frequently sat in court with high profile Granada and BBC North West presenters who would get a lot of details wrong in their reports, even things like age. Shorthand is invaluable for court and council reporting.

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  • November 30, 2015 at 11:46 am
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    @Jeff. I think you will find that’s exactly what I said!

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  • November 30, 2015 at 12:06 pm
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    At the risk of being dismissed as a dinosaur, I agree wholeheatedly with Tim (Crook). I have been involved in journalism for some forty plus years, – most of it in Broadcasting – and have always been grateful that I was taught shorthand. Started learning Pitmans in newspapers, and then had an intensive course in Teeline courtesy of the BBC. I continued to use shorthand throughout my time in radio – both as a reporter and later as a news editor in BBC local radio and independent radio; bsolutely invaluable. Those staff in my newsrooms who had a command of shorthand always seemed to produce more accurate copy than those without, and it certainly made it easier to defend the quality of their reportage. I’m still using it to take a contemporaneous note.

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  • November 30, 2015 at 1:30 pm
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    Shorthand is a vital skill – not just in newsrooms but for anyone who purports to be a journalist. I very much like Graham Dudman’s comment above.
    And shorthand isn’t just about the skill itself. Journalism is a difficult job – long hours (relatively) low pay, huge responsibility from day 1, dealing with difficult people and sensitive subjects. The kind of person who’s likely to excel at all that is likely to be the sort of person who can be bothered to get their shorthand. Who aspires to be a ‘proper’ journalist.
    Having said all that, 100wpm shortand is difficult to attain. And if you don’t expect to use it (because, for eg, you only want to work in broadcast), then, fine – make the target 80wpm for some strands.
    But, having trained many people who have subsequently gone into radio/TV, they tell me time and again just how invaluable that skill is and how it supports them in their career on a regular basis.

    Overall – the NCTJ should put its efforts into promoting the importance of shorthand rather than bowing to demand to dumb down their qualification

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  • November 30, 2015 at 2:36 pm
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    Most of my work these days is features and I use my Teeline all the time. I could use a recorder when I do interviews, then spend time fiddling about getting it transcribed, but I prefer to mark my notes as I go along and then flick through them to find the best bits when I write up. It’s the easiest thing for me. My father used the most immaculate Pitman years ago and could phone over a story straight from his notes, writing it up in his head as he spoke. I think that’s a valuable skill for any reporter, even today.

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  • November 30, 2015 at 4:27 pm
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    Neil White: Thanks for your response to my feedback. (I thought you were into Twitter and all that stuff?)

    As for “whipping up your mates to support your view”, I DM-ed all my media Twitter followers with a request to look at the survey, vote and retweet. I gave no direction of which way to vote in that message. Indeed, quite a few of my media Twitter followers voted ‘no’, and explained why. I did – like yourself – then comment in the ensuing shorthand Twitter debate. That’s healthy, isn’t it?

    As part of this, I asked you for confirmation of the ‘elective’ nature of shorthand in your NCTJ proposal. I didn’t get clarity, although I realise that it’s sometimes hard to get yourself across on Twitter.

    Since the Twitter survey, a n other NCTJ qualifications panel member has accepted that putting shorthand under the ‘elective heading’ is misleading, as the intention is still to insist that ‘news journalism’ students take it, but not ‘other’ students (PR, digital, etc).

    This clarity is welcome. But the wider variance – moving shorthand away from being one of the ‘Core skills for all journalists’, as in the current diploma – is still a major concern.

    I’ll research and listen more before blogging on all this detail in my next blog. And I’d be happy to chat it through with you any time.

    Best wishes, Steve

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  • November 30, 2015 at 4:59 pm
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    In a sadly shrinking staff number profession surely it’s best to maintain top standards and keep shorthand which served me well in over 40 years in the job. Anything less is a downturn. Even when I was doing pieces for radio and TV Pitmans came in real handy for speed and accuracy. How do non-believers and infidels manage in court or council for instance? Sometimes I’d be asked by another reporter beside me in court or in a scrum at Heathrow: “What did he/she say? I didn’t get a proper note.” Inaccurate quotes often appeared in rival organs as a result. I thank you….

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  • November 30, 2015 at 9:19 pm
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    The next time Neil White confers with his lawyers to bat off a libel threat, I look forward to him building his case with an iPad and his utter conviction he is right. Not as much as the opposing lawyers will be though. What is the profession coming to when crackpot ideas like this even get considered mildly seriously?

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