Devina Divecha's Journals

Let me begin by saying that I cannot believe my first post on this new blog is about shorthand.

I think it came as a shock to me when I started my Masters degree that journalists still needed shorthand. For starters, when I  worked for The Emirates Evening Post and Time Out Dubai, I never noticed anyone using shorthand, Teeline or Pittman. I’m sure some journalists – if not all – in both organizations had the skill, but since everyone was using dictaphones and/or longhand, it simply never occurred to me that shorthand was still a valuable skill.

All that changed once I came to Sheffield. When the classes started, I feared I’d never be able to master anything in what seemed to be a complex writing language. After a month at it, I feel more at ease with the writing and some of it just flows without me having to think.

I’ve also learnt how useful shorthand can be, especially during the interview clinics, where I practise my shorthand every single time. Added to that, now that we have our news patches, interviewing people does seem less daunting.

I leave you with this (there are some mistakes…which I made when trying to write it as fast as possible):

Until the next time I blog!

Quote of the post: “News is something that someone somewhere doesn’t want published. All the rest is advertising.” – Lord Northcliffe