Stenotype Master Shorthand Machine

Long before the invention of close circuit television to record court proceedings, there was a person whose sole job was to record court proceedings. These people are known stenographers, aka as court reporters, which you have have seen in most legal dramas or court scenes in film and television, or in some real life courts as there are approximately 27,000 to 30,000 active stenographic court reporters (2025) in the U.S.. In order to record the verbal words spoken in often lengthy court cases, these stenographers employ a stenotype like this Stenotype Master Shorthand Machine, specifically a Master Model Four from the LaSalle Extension University from 1927, a specialized keyboard to create a verbatim record of spoken words. Unlike a standard keyboard, stenotypes have fewer keys, and multiple keys are pressed simultaneously (a technique called "chording" or "stroking") to represent syllables, words, or even phrases with a single hand motion. However, stenography and stenographers are disappearing, with an estimated 17,000 left in 2028 due to the with the rise of close circuit television, in addition an aging workforce and declining enrollment in training programs, thought they still remained vital for accurate transcription in complex situations.