DAR

DAR! Hmmf! Good God, ya'll, what is it good for?

I know I'm dating myself by bringing back that old protest song against the Vietnam War, but I thought it might be appropriate in light of the fact that I keep hearing references from the NCRA board that we should be working with DAR technology.

I've been reporting for 37 years, and since day one, before that really, people have been telling me I will be replaced by a tape recorder, or now, a DAR machine. And I keep telling people I'll have my job for as long as I want it and will leave behind many people who do what I do that will keep their jobs for as long as they want them.

I believe that because I care what happens in the courtroom as it relates to my being able to produce the best possible record that can be made. And I believe that because as the proceeding goes through my mind and I translate the words to steno, then write them on my machine, and then my dictionary matches the strokes I am writing to their English definitions, I know that there is no other technology that does that. That entire process is not done by DAR machines, not even close. It just records what it can process, period. It doesn't think about the words it is recording. It doesn't care about the words it is recording. And it doesn't care about what's going on in the courtroom. It doesn't know if someone is not speaking loud enough so that someone down the line will be able to prepare an accurate record from its recording.

I make this analogy between stenographic court reporters and DAR. Think of a young child who has been left in front of a TV for hours each day either watching what's on TV or playing games. The parent is off doing other things and just checks on the child every once in a while. Then think of the parent who reads to the child, who takes the child outside to experience nature, takes the child to museums, zoos and other interesting places to expand the child's mind. I think of the stenographic court reporter as the child who has been nurtured, educated, and taught to care about what he or she does while performing his or her job. I think of DAR as the child who has been left to fend for itself, just letting the information go in the "brain" but not really processing it.

Some of you might say: So what? We're still losing jobs to this other technology. I say why aren't we promoting ourselves with every ounce of energy and using every resource we can to convince these people who do not make their living in the courtroom that they should be keeping stenographic court reporters in the courtroom. After all, that's what the NCRA Constitution says is the purpose of NCRA. And I can hear some of the past leaders of NCRA saying: Are you crazy? We've already tried that. It doesn't work! And I'm saying, then we need to try harder. DAR can never do what we can do because we have a presence in the courtroom or deposition suite and we can make a difference when things get out of hand. And DAR cannot provide the best product on the planet, realtime.

Some will say that realtime is not needed for every case. Well, we all know that. But it should be available. Some of the most important decisions the Supreme Court has made concern cases from the lower courts. And for crying out loud, if you have the best product, why not tout it? And believe me, I'm not throwing the stenographic non-realtimers under the bus. Those folks are also like the educated and nurtured child referred to above. But we need to put the market's best product out in front.