WordWave and Sky News team up again

A word-for-word transcript of the judge’s summing up, as well as the verdict and sentencing, appeared in real-time on viewers’ television screens on 7 February, accompanied by live commentary from a Sky News reporter.

It’s the latest in a series of collaborations between WordWave and Sky News that has seen the two companies break new ground in court reporting.

Subject to the judge’s agreement, the process involves one of WordWave’s highly trained stenographers capturing proceedings in the usual way. This information is sent via the Internet to Sky News, which uses its own specialist software to convert the stenography ‘shorthand’ into text, and then broadcasts it on screen. The whole process takes just a couple of seconds, with viewers able to read transcripts virtually live.

Traditionally, UK courtrooms have not allowed live broadcasts of proceedings, however all that changed in July 2005, when WordWave and Sky News were given permission to screen live transcripts at the first retrial of Sion Jenkins.

Since then, they’ve worked together on a series of prominent cases, including R v Barton (the Anthony Walker trial) and most recently the second Sion Jenkins retrial.

For Sky News, the technique means it can deliver the news more quickly, a high priority. But as well as developing the software to make the process possible, there’ve been other hurdles for the broadcaster to get over, including finding a company that can provide high quality stenography and the technical know-how required.

“Live transcripts are an important part of our aim to broadcast the news as fast as possible,” says Sky News Associate Editor Simon Bucks. “Once we had obtained permission to broadcast real-time transcripts, we needed the right partner.”

“By teaming up with WordWave, we’re combining first-class stenography skills and cutting edge court reporting with the latest broadcasting techniques to really enhance our live news output,” he continues. “What we’ve achieved so far represents a real breakthrough in terms of how legal proceedings are reported in the UK, and it’s just the start.”

For WordWave, live broadcasts of transcripts are a natural development of its real-time reporting service, which it has been providing at courtrooms around the world for over ten years. The broadcasts also build on techniques the company has developed as part of its unique speech to text service, aimed at enabling hearing-impaired people to participate fully in meetings.