Florida: They’re Cutting Us Out. Other States Are Next.

As the corporate consolidation of America continues, I received correspondence from a valued reader and donor I’d like to share.

“Hi Chris!

I’m not sure that we have spoken before directly, but I am a monthly supporter of your blog. I just read the post about the Lexitas independent contractor agreement, and it made me wonder if you’ve heard about this new practice they have in some jurisdictions of automatically recording the ENTIRETY of a Zoom meeting for depositions. Obviously, it’s kind of messed up because there are personal conversations that sometimes happen between clients, counsel, and witnesses before and after the deposition officially begins along with plenty of “off-the-record” exchanges such as social security numbers and dates of birth. I figure that’s their legal problem since they’re doing it. (In fairness, the parties do get an alert they have to click through that it is being recorded.)

But from an “independent contractor” perspective, they’ve previously required us to turn over our notes in order to be paid. Many of us simply refused, as it is OUR work product and we carry our own liability insurance policies in case of catastrophic failure.

But now they’ve taken that choice away from ALL stenographers. I’m hearing rumblings that the the plan is to have a nice and clear recording because they’re pissing off stenographers left and right, and now that they have these recordings, they can outsource them to typists and the reporter will lose all control of the final transcript and, perhaps the most annoying, the income.

Have you heard anything of this? Do we have any recourse at all short of refusing to cover their work?

This could be a problem unique to Florida since we have a lot of jobs that don’t order until weeks, months, or years later.

I don’t know if Lexitas reporters in other markets would even care since it isn’t affecting them YET, which has been my unfortunate experience when trying to rally other stenographers to demand change.

Thoughts? Advice? I’ve thought of requesting an NCRA Cope opinion on it, but I am not exactly succinct and unbiased in my presentation.

Appreciate all that you do!”

And, for the record, I responded:

“Hello. I’m not sure we’ve spoken directly either but I deeply appreciate your donations. It is people like you that will put Stenonymous on the map.

I have heard of similar stuff occurring. it’s pretty certain the big boxes are outsourcing. I’ve seen advertisements myself. Though I haven’t been told about any specific agreement. They’re also using influencer culture to fill seats.

I do not know of an easy solution here. The recourse would be social, legal, or political in my view. Socially, we can withhold work as you said. But it’s my view that we can also create a media firestorm that highlights the degradation of quality and the overcharging of consumers, alongside the lawbreaking I write about. This has been the point of most of my work and a part of my publishing strategy. Most of the field plays this more proper, professional role while I attempt to reach wider audiences through this “writing shock jock” routine. I am hopeful that the end result is that the companies start second guessing their choices, because I am almost certain their choices are costing them more than they’re letting on.

Legally, if we could find a statute that they’re violating, someone might have a cause of action against them, and they can sue. Kind of like the Holly Moose case, except this time, hopefully whoever it is would win a la StoryCloud. In my case, I’ve been putting my feelers out for potential claimants on the lawbreaking I found, but I haven’t found anyone willing to take this on.

Politically we can campaign for laws, but big money people who can hire lobbyists usually win that game.

In the end, whatever solution we have is likely going to require a lot of people coming together. We’re dealing with entities that make millions. And we should do this with or without our associations, because I have found that many associations are risk averse to the point of absurdity and to the point where their members’ jobs are now threatened because we spent decades failing to educate the public and explore the science behind what we do.

I have a big ask of you, and if you don’t want me to, it’s fine. But may I publish your email (redacting your personal information)? I believe that if other reporters become aware of the situation in Florida, they might coordinate with someone like Jackie Mentecky to push back.

There may not be easy answers. But I’m willing to work hard to find new ones.”

Political Violence & Free Speech in America…

A store owner was killed over a pride flag not long ago. When I was a young man and throughout a nice chunk of my life, society was fairly good as a whole about condemning violence. That was sometime after the government stopped producing plans to kill its own citizens. The political landscape has definitely shifted. “Both sides” of the political landscape have elements that regard “the other side” as evil, stupid, or even inhuman. I know because I’ve seen plenty of online evidence and have even made goofy videos trying to persuade young people to get away from thinking about violence as an answer to political problems. We are forgetting, or perhaps some have never acknowledged, that we are all Americans and that while we may vehemently disagree, and in some cases nastily disagree, there is a line, and that line is unlawful behavior.

It has me thinking about my own writing. A lot of my writing is politically left to the degree we must use such labels to describe things, very much like that pride flag is often viewed as being. The concept I created for Patriots Against Corporatism hasn’t taken off yet, but I know there are right-wing people that respect that kind of stuff. They understand that America won’t function without more of the economy going to hardworking people like them, including small business entrepreneurs. The unfortunate catch there is that I may someday have elements from “either” political persuasion angry with me, especially if my following grows.

If I am ever targeted for my writing I hope that people will not lay down quietly about it. You do not need to live in a society afraid to speak. Sometimes the only thing that will stave off the threat of authoritarians of whatever political cause systematically silencing you is gathering together and shouting in one collective bellow, as we have learned from the countless movements that came before.

Those that follow me, I’m eternally grateful for your support. It really made a difference in our field. It continues to do so every day. So if I ever do fall victim to something and am not able to tell you myself, just remember how powerful you really are.

And remember that corporations and governments run cyber ops to control you and how you think about things, including your fellow Americans. That person you’re fighting with online may not be anything more than a kid from a rival country meant to sow discord among the people on the American political spectrum, because if we are fighting with each other, we’re not talking about how to solve societal issues and grow more brilliant American minds, make America a better place to work and live so that the brightest minds from all over the world immigrate here, end corruption in government, and generally how to maintain our relatively wonderful standard of living. For the world governments, this makes America weak, and there are a lot of them that want us weak. For the corporations, our infighting stops us from realizing that some of the richest people on Earth are assholes that abuse that power and they really don’t care if you have a nice life, they care about propagandizing you so that you act in a way that 1) benefits them, such as voting for their guy or 2) combats others that would stand against them deteriorating your and your families’ quality of life, a la the the constant media barrage telling you to live in fear of “them,” the political, racial, sexual, systemic, or religious “other.” These are not nice “rich” people like doctors and lawyers, they are the people who make more money in one night of sleep than you will in your whole life, statistically. These are the people that study human behavior in order to manipulate it for money.

If the neurotypical world is one where the majority of people believe that getting one over on each other is a good way to run a society, then I am quite happy to be an autist and denounce that society. But I suspect that the truth is that the majority of you do not believe in such a world. This is not inherent human nature. We do not see it ubiquitously in every country, nor do we see it in every community in our country. I believe that you believe in helping others, making an honest buck, and that there are simply sometimes social and economic reasons that that takes a backseat. This is very different from people that have all their needs and desires met and simply want more because they can have more at the expense of all else. And if that’s someday at your expense, it’ll be people just like you that save you or let you drown. If that worries you, you only need to throw the smallest of pebbles into the lake to change your reflection.

Each of you has a gift that can help humanity. I urge you to share yours with the world in the same way I have shared my writing. It is not every person’s cup of tea. Your gift may not be either. My writing has not made me rich. Your gift may not make you rich. But I live a richer and more fulfilled life than the one I lived before. I share what I share in the hopes that you will too.

Christopher Day shares his writing with the world in the hope that something good comes out of it.

2022 Year End Report and Looking Forward

Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to provide a statistics update for the blog and some thoughts looking forward.

In 2022 there were 27,671 visitors and 48,649 views. This is a drop from 2021’s 51,423 visitors and 85,117 views. It is, however, still a massive upgrade from 2020, which saw 9,526 visitors and 15,158 views. This is in the context of a field estimated to be about 30,000 members. This was expected because funding for the blog was not as high this year and the advertising I could run for steno or consumer awareness was limited.

Stenonymous.com 2022 statistics showing about 27,000 visitors in 2022. — Stenonymous.com 2022 visitor stats.

Due to the drop in funding, I’ve been forced to find low-cost ways to spread the message and get attention on our issues.

Christopher Day standing with a Stenonymous.com QR code on a wearable sandwich board. — Christopher Day attracting attention to the stenographic legion and Stenonymous Q4 2022. Times Square.

I even enlisted the help of a cheering crowd. They know what stenographers need, international support. They told us to never give up.

Just kidding. While I was out there promoting Stenonymous, their protest was about the Burmese people, and while I don’t mean to co-opt their movement, I did want to make a point about the importance of my work as an independent body. Everybody has an angle. Big boxes want you working for them cheaply, manufacturers want to sell you stuff, I want people reading my work. The difference between me and a lot of other “influencers” is that my angle is not purely monetary. There is a social and political component to what I do. With your continued support, either through passing me information or monetarily, this movement to defend the interests of working reporters can only grow to have real teeth.

There are indications change is coming. Some of my sources have reported New York City copy sales as high as $1.00 per page and originals upwards of $4.30 per page. This is contrasted against the situation as it was in 2010 and many years thereafter, $0.25 copies and originals as low as $2.80. What’s happened in the last 5 years to make prices quadruple? Documentation and broadcasting of how bad New York freelance reporters are getting screwed. The documentation of events in our field has a value, but media growth will have more value. If we can get it in front of every law practitioner how easy it is to edit audio, they might be less inclined to charge into digital. If we can get it in front of jobseekers that digital court reporting doesn’t have the same career options as steno, they may find their way to steno or another career that treats them better. If we can continue to gather and release data that helps players in the market make informed decisions, it may reinvigorate an industry that some feel is in decline. If we can communicate to the public that the integrity of the appeal system is contingent on the accuracy of these records, we can get more people behind our cause.

Again, have a happy and healthy new year. I’ll be doing what I can to make this one count.