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February 16-22 recognized as National Court Reporting and
Captioning Week
[MEMBER NAME] to join second annual nationwide effort to recognize
professionals, career opportunities in stenographic court reporting and
captioning
VIENNA, Va., DATE—The National Court Reporters Association, the country’s leading
organization representing stenographic court reporters and broadcast captioners, has announced
that Feb. 16-22 has been deemed National Court Reporting and Captioning Week. The
awareness week pulls together a nationwide effort to highlight the contributions of stenographic
court reporters and captioners to society and to showcase the career opportunities that exist in the
court reporting and captioning fields.
[MEMBER FIRST, LAST NAME], a [court reporter/captioner… describe with “official
court reporter for the Xth district court” or a “closed captioner for the deaf and hard of
hearing community,” etc.] from [CITY, STATE], is planning to get involved with National
Court Reporting and Captioning Week by joining the grassroots efforts to promote the profession
and educate local communities about the value stenographic skills bring to today’s marketplace.
[MEMBER LAST NAME] has been a stenographic court reporter for [enter #] years and is a
graduate of [name of program] in [city/state location of program]. [He/she] has been a
member of NCRA for [enter #] years and has earned nationally recognized credentials including
[note certifications by spelling them out entirely].
“We are grateful for [MEMBER’s FIRST NAME]’s extensive involvement in this initiative
and for [his/her] never-ending support of this rewarding profession,” said Nancy Varallo, NCRA
president.
“National Court Reporting and Captioning Week lets us celebrate what makes our field unique.
Stenographic court reporters have been around for a hundred years, and we’ve embraced
technology which has allowed us to expand into captioning for television and for the deaf and
hard-of-hearing,” she said.
Varallo, who holds the nationally recognized professional certifications of Registered Diplomate
Reporter (RDR) and Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR), owns The Varallo Group LLC, in
Worcester, Mass. “Our profession is a great example of traditional skills employing the latest in
high-tech to provide cutting-edge services in the litigation arena and in captioning. Our
profession is a great career choice because skilled court reporters and captioners are in high
demand,” she added.
National Court Reporting and Captioning Week will be marked with promotional events and
marketing nationwide, including a grassroots social media campaign, presentations at high
schools across the country about court reporting and captioning career opportunities and
community demonstrations such as producing transcripts of veterans’ oral histories.
“For 10 years, members of the National Court Reporters Association have volunteered their time
and professional skills to capture the oral histories of America’s disabled veterans,” said B.J.
Shorak, deputy executive director of the National Court Reporters Foundation. “These
transcripts—thousands of important histories that would have otherwise been lost—are preserved
at the Library of Congress thanks to the skill and dedication of court reporters and captioners.”
Stenographic skills translate to a multitude of career options—including court reporting, liveevent captioning for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, captioning for broadcast and
specialized videography—and the strong marketplace demand means court reporting offers an
abundance of long-term career opportunities. “Court reporting is consistently ranked as one of
the top career options as it offers both flexibility and significant income potential,” notes Jim
Cudahy, CEO and executive director of NCRA. “Court reporters and captioners are able to begin
a career without a traditional four-year college degree, and these highly trained professionals
experience the continuous professional growth associated with an in-demand career.”
For more information, visit NCRA.org. Career information about the court reporting
profession—one of the leading career options that do not require a traditional four-year degree—
can be found at CareersInCourtReporting.com.
About NCRA
The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) is internationally recognized for promoting
excellence among those who capture and convert the spoken word to text for more than 100
years. NCRA is committed to supporting its more than 19,000 members in achieving the highest
level of professional expertise with educational opportunities and industry-recognized court
reporting, educator and videographer certification programs. NCRA impacts legislative issues
and the global marketplace through its actively involved membership. Forbes has named court
reporting as one of the best career options that do not require a traditional four-year degree and
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the court reporting field is expected to grow
more than 5 percent in the coming years. For more information, visit NCRA.org.