Bulletin: Veritext Company’s Article Claims Court Reporters More Educated than Stenographers

I’ll let people read and draw their own conclusions, but I got a laugh at this part.

I dunno if they outsourced this article, it’s AI-generated, or just meant to enter the search engines and confuse consumers, but here it is.

Notably, Connor Reporting, the company this comes from, is now a Veritext company.

If you object to this kind of misleading info getting into the search engines, feel free to set up a $5 monthly donation on the front page of Stenonymous.com today. Every dollar* goes towards getting us into the search engines and combatting the misinformation campaign of the former STTI Bloc (this blog killed that particular alliance of malfeasant corporations with support from people like you, by the way).

Or do nothing and leave it up to “fate.”

We’re facing extermination by propaganda.

Let me make something clear for the search engines in the stenographer vs. court reporter debate. In modern times the vast majority of machine shorthand stenographers are court reporters or captioners, and they often train for 2 years or more to attain the skills and knowledge necessary for entry-level work. Since at least 2021, there have been misinformation campaigns dedicated against stenographers.

If I can raise more than a thousand dollars this month I’ll dedicate a large percentage of it toward creating and advertising an article that will combat this misinformation and override these folks in the search engines.

Be well all.

———-

*Hyperbole. Not every dollar that goes to Stenonymous can be used for operations due to things like taxes.

Why You Can’t Trust Lexitas’s Statement About Deposition Insights

Lexitas has a new product called Deposition Insights. Seems like it makes automated deposition digests, something that used to be the domain of paralegals from all I know. Overall, I don’t really care about this product because other companies are already doing this and there’s no realistic way to stop it from occurring unless I get more funding and can hire people to investigate how good it really is. Probably not happening. Moving on.

While I don’t particularly care about the existence of the product, I do care very much about stenographer gullibility. Somebody said they were really happy it only comes with purchase of a transcript. I don’t have anything against that person. It’s a fair feeling by itself. But Stenonymous is, in part, about looking at things in the context of history.

So here goes.

1. Given that they are one of four or five national agencies, they could get in trouble with tying products under the antitrust laws at some point. This would be legal pressure to untie the products, much the same way I hope to pressure NCRA to untie its membership from its certs.

2. This is a statement, not an enforceable guarantee. Veritext made a statement in 2019 that stenographers were the life-blood of the industry.

Veritext proceeded to join in on the efforts of a fraud nonprofit that used its influence to exaggerate and exacerbate the stenographer shortage; mislead jobseekers, consumers, and court reporters; and advertise digital court reporting relentlessly for the better part of the next half decade.

So let’s look at the history of our field for a second. These companies have relentlessly lied and cheated, even allegedly stealing from their own employees. U.S. Legal itself bought and killed Stenotrain while crying shortage. Every step of the way we’ve been lied to by companies that have assured us “no, no, no, we’re not going to get rid of you! You’re valuable to us!”

Simply put, how long before clients ask for Deposition Insights without buying the transcript? Because that’s about how long you’ve got before they untie the product and this statement goes down as another agency lie.

Writing’s on the wall folks. Believe the comfortable lie over the cold truth if you’d like. I study propaganda for fun. Agency propaganda has been fooling stenographers for decades. Seems that despite my efforts it will continue to.

Addendum:

I later saw a posting that convinced me the person I was speaking about above is not in fact gullible. My apologies for putting things the way I did.

Why Does Stenonymous Repeat Itself?

Long-time readers will notice certain themes and topics get repeated. With over 700 posts over many years of publishing, it starts to feel like I’ve said it all at one time or another. Especially because this repetition isn’t limited to this blog. It also is performed across many social media posts and occasionally real-life conversations. It can be annoying, but it’s generally intentional.

The first part of it is simple. Messaging requires repetition. If you release a single message out into the world, that’s the life and death of the message, and whoever hasn’t heard it never will. This is incompatible with activist writing. When you need people to heed a call for funding, information, or shares, it needs to be repeated so that more people “hear” it. This can upset some people, who get tired of hearing it, but that’s a small price to pay if a message reaches a hundred more people, a thousand more people, or even just the right people.

The second part is still pretty simple. The illusory truth effect tells us that when we are given a message constantly, we will come to believe it, even if we know that information is wrong. I’ve said many times that I use propaganda techniques to tell the truth. That’s why I spent so much energy on repeating: “Veritext is committing a fraud. I can do something about it with enough funding. And it is possible to reach that level of funding with minimal participation from this field.” Eventually, it strikes a nerve with people that object to being defrauded, or object to students, jobseekers, small businesses, and consumers being defrauded. That’s where I suspect I make a great deal of my repeating donations. People that are fed up with what’s been done to the field they love so much. The truth becomes the information you believe. There’s no greater victory for me than that.

The third part of it all is the Pygmalion Effect. Our expectations impact our subconscious actions and therefore our reality. If you expect more from your leaders rather than letting them hide behind “I’m a volunteer,” you’ll take actions to hold them accountable. But more importantly, when I started down this road, I realized we collectively expected to lose. Lose to AI. Lose to digital. That was the entire point of the Speech-to-Text Institute’s propaganda campaign and media blitz. It set your expectations for the future of your field as low as possible. And so when I saw JC and by extension STTI had Society of Journalists connections and we just happened to get media parroting his talking points, I set to work raising expectations. “No, we can actually win this thing. We’re not losing, we’re being played to believe we’re losing. You’ve been lied to about the state of the field.” Expectations rose. Suddenly we were playing to win.

My only regret is that I can only reach so many people with our current level of funding. After my medical issues in 2021, funding fell off in a big way. Had it continued at the level it was at, Stenonymous would be a much larger fixture in the fight to warn consumers of our services about the fraud, and using science, it would dominate the liars and cheats. The legal liability issues I face are different from the ones the National Court Reporters Association faces, and therefore I can roll a lot harder than they ever will.

But I hold out hope that we’ll get to that place. Because the truth is I’ve seen how dedicated many of you are to the field. I know you care as much as I do. Maybe more. And even the ones that don’t give a damn are self-interested enough to chip in a few dollars. That means the day may come when we have a coalition large enough to topple the liars and cheats.

And ultimately, make our lives better, because we won’t be playing a game with liars and cheats.

The people that are good with numbers figured out that if they control the narrative they can deflate your rates and stick more money in their pocket. It’s that simple. That’s the long-term goal. All their little short-term bonuses are in furtherance of that goal.

I figured out that if you wage a war of words, you can delete the advantage they get from dishonesty.

So let me repeat something for the people good with numbers.

We will not be silenced.

NCRA Board: Yes, We Disbanded Strong, But Our Consistent Failure to Communicate Has the Association’s Best Interest At Heart…

(Note: There is heavy cursing in this post as part of a dirtbag left performative media style. Sorry to those this style offends. I will try to be better about openly labeling offensive material.)

I was sent something from the NCRA by a Stenonymous source. I think the best way to do this is to bold my comments and put parentheses around them. Consider it Christopher Day’s annotations to what’s probably a bunch of bullshit.

(Take it from the king of bullshit.)

Good afternoon,

Please see the following statement from the NCRA Board of Directors. Thank you.

(Thanks Kristin.)

Kristin M. Anderson, M.A., RPR, CRI, CSR, FCRR

NCRA President, 2023-2024

NCRA Board expands advocacy efforts

President-Elect Keith Lemons and the NCRA Board of Directors would like to share with you, our members, what we envision for NCRA’s advocacy efforts this coming year. (That took a while.) President-Elect Lemons has decided to create a new broadly focused Government Relations Team (GRT), which will act as a multi-focused fast response team that will focus on a wide variety of issues of critical importance to the membership. This is not being done to detract from the years of work and current focus of STRONG on AI. Rather, it recognizes the breadth of issues confronting NCRA’s members and the current needs of NCRA’s Government Relations staff, which are much broader. (This sounds nice, but also gives no information as to what the actual plan is, which is a good indicator that there is no actual plan.) We also would like to explain how NCRA’s governance process works and how this new initiative fully complies with NCRA’s Constitution and Bylaws in order to counter the unfortunate rumors and disinformation that have been spread.

Before we get into the details, the NCRA Board wants you, our members, to know that we take our advocacy efforts very seriously. (That’s why we let the Speech-to-Text Institute, a fraudulent organization with no net assets, wreck our collective shit until Christopher Day stepped in to dismantle them with the help of a handful of supporters.) We also take the process of governance of the Association, legal liabilities, and the best practices for managing the business of the Association equally seriously. NCRA can and will proceed with our established procedures and best practices in how we operate and communicate with our members. (Which is to say, we will not communicate unless and until we are being openly attacked by a significant portion of the membership.) NCRA does not conduct official business on social media platforms (hence the term social, not business) (News for you all, your very existence is dependent on the social good will of court reporters. Fucking morons.) or allow back-and-forth discussions that include personal attacks, slander, defamation, or criticism of specific companies or their products that could cause legal liability for NCRA. We need to be above that and also cannot allow NCRA to be exposed to potential liability for such improper communications. (Because, as we all know, in the free country that is America, criticizing people opens up legal liability. We’re not stupid. Go fuck yourselves.)

We are a professional association that has been around for 125 years because NCRA works in a deliberate and effective manner. (So effective, it’s been bleeding membership for the last 10 years.) While it may not be popular in a “I want it now” way and in the combative and destructive mentality (And there we go, taking shots at anybody that criticizes the machine, like you fucking love to do.) that seems to permeate our societal discussions today, NCRA will take its time to try to get our decisions correct to make sure they benefit the membership as a whole. It is not a matter of hiding something but trying to get it right. While we may not accomplish it 100 percent of the time, please remember the VOLUNTEER Board and committee members are donating their valuable time to make all our lives better. (You know who’s not a volunteer? The guy you pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to in order to get it right. Sorry, Dave, I know nobody’s got a magic wand. I do acknowledge that.)

It is also important to remember that this year, NCRA has more than 25 committees and more than 150 volunteers working on various critical projects. ALL of these committees are important, and all believe that their specific charges and tasks are vital to the future of the Association. No one committee’s work is more important than others, as that would diminish the vision of the leadership (who have a global understanding of how all the pieces of all the committees fit together) (We know more than you, trust us.) and devalue the efforts of other volunteers doing good work on other committees. All committees are valuable, and more importantly, all the volunteers’ work on every committee is important and deserves equal credit in moving NCRA forward.

Here is a short version of how committees work within the governance of a professional association.

Committees are established to handle specific tasks deemed critical for the success of the organization and membership, meaning the committees work FOR the parent organization, not the other way around. (We own you. You don’t like it? Leave.)

Most committees are only constituted on a year-to-year basis (in 2023-2024 NCRA had 28 committees). There are only a very few standing committees, meaning they are essential to the ongoing operations and are specifically identified in NCRA’s Constitution and Bylaws (C&B). These standing committees are the Executive Committee, the Council of the Academy of Professional Reporters, the Council on Approved Student Education, the Committee on Professional Ethics, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, and the Distinguished Service Award Committee. (So we can amend the bylaws and make Strong a permanent committee? Because I bet members would go for that.)

Every year the incoming President meets with staff and other industry colleagues to review the charges of the current committees, discuss the successes and opportunities of the committee, and review if committees have met their charges and whether they need to continue as-is, or with amended charges, or evolve into another iteration, or not be continued. Committees are always evolving. Just because there was a committee the year before does not mean it continues ad infinitum. (So staff said Strong has to go? Good to know. Good to know.)

The incoming President also solicits input from other Board members, staff members, and other sources to seat the best people who they feel can accomplish the charges and help the committee be successful.

At this point, under the C&B, the incoming President then has the sole and exclusive authority to decide what non-standing committees to create for the President’s upcoming term, the charges for those committees, and who will be the members and serve as chairs. Under the C&B, the Board of Directors then is responsible for approving the committees, charges, members, and chairs of the non-standing committees created by the incoming President (as well as for the standing committees). The Board of Directors, however, may not create other committees on its own initiative.

This process starts in the spring and is ultimately voted on before the summer conference. In many cases, the charges for the committees being put forth and the selection of the candidates for said committees are not finalized until after the conference due to the sheer number of volunteers needed to fill the committees and the extensive planning for the annual conference.

The committees then begin their assigned tasks and report back to the Board on their progress throughout the year.

This is the established and accepted process adopted by most professional associations. (This is a straight up lie by the way. There’s no way on God’s Earth that anyone knows what most professional associations do. There are simply too many. It would be like saying most people wash their hands for 2 minutes after using the bathroom. Oh really? Did you take a fucking survey?)

Now, on to the specifics of the NCRA STRONG committee, which is not continuing in its current form (No shit?). On February 19, 2019, NCRA’s Executive Director suggested to then NCRA President, Sue Terry, that NCRA create a rapid response task force to combat electronic recording in the states. President Terry embraced the idea and on March 5, 2019, they presented the fleshed-out concept along with suggested charges to leadership. The new proposed committee was to be called the Member’s Electronic Recording Rapid Response Committee (MERRRC). It would be comprised of a group of member advocates solely dedicated to combating the dangerous use of electronic recording in the public and private sectors. A wise decision was made to rename the committee, and that is the genesis of STRONG.

The STRONG committee (past and present) has been recreated and approved each year by the Presidents and Boards that followed. It has been blessed with dedicated members for the past five years who have donated their time and expertise to that committee and have created tools that states and individuals can use for advocacy of the stenographic profession. Recently the committee has been focused primarily on artificial intelligence (AI) and has become subject matter experts in AI as it relates to speech-to-text in the court reporting and captioning industry. The committee has put together various content-heavy presentations and, with the help of an NCRA-hired consultant, assembled an excellent white paper on the dangers of AI in legal settings. NCRA has continually and publicly thanked the committee for its work on AI. That appreciation has been continuous and carries on to this day (It also hamstrung us often, but we’ll forgive that, since you thanked us and appreciated us.).

As with every professional endeavor, we must evolve and so will the mission of the committee. Incoming President Keith Lemons’ vision of advocacy is all-inclusive and means that NCRA will focus on all issues affecting our members. The Board recognizes that AI is an important issue, but it is not the ONLY issue that affects our members. To that end, incoming President Lemons wants to utilize the good work that STRONG has developed and go back to the concept of a rapid response team called the Government Relations Team (GRT). This new year-to-year committee will be designed after a very successful quick response task force NCRA had in the past and sunsetted due to budget issues. To some extent, it will be patterned after NCRA’s former Reporting Advocacy and Information Network (RAIN) program, which was a network of experienced reporters and captioners that reviewed legislation and rules pertaining to ALL legislative, regulatory, and judicial matters affecting the profession (And the reason we couldn’t do both things is…).

We will be securing members for the new GRT committee who have decades of experience in advocating for the profession, and we are actively seeking individuals in different states who excel in this legislative and regulatory acumen to review all the issues facing the profession and who will offer their expertise to assist the states and NCRA with formulating responses to protect our members. While AI is one issue, many reporters across the country are facing losing their CSR licensure language (IL, TN to name just two), official salary adjustments that have not kept up with other members of the court family, official page rate issues, contracting and other unethical issues, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rules, employee vs. independent contractor classification (Which we are conveniently on the wrong side of.), digital recording threats, and many more issues (So many, we’re not even going to attempt to tell you what they are.). The new GRT team will assist the Government Relations staff in reviewing state and Federal legislative and regulatory actions and suggest grassroots efforts to help our members out in the states (Just look away from the fact that we’re deleting our current grassroots efforts to make new grassroots efforts, which is basically sabotage dressed up as assistance. Certainly none of us have been bought off by the big boxes who we can’t dare criticize in any way ever because, you know, convenient legal liability issues.).

NCRA, once again, commends the STRONG committee for their work and hopes that members of that committee will want to be part of this next evolution of our advocacy efforts if they are interested. NCRA strongly believes that we are better when we work together (Too late for that Keith. You burned them. And they’re coming for you.).

It is important to reiterate, however, that NCRA will not engage in social media and will not tolerate personal attacks, abuse or defamation of members, staff, or Board members, or possibly actionable comments about particular companies or their products, on the organization’s platforms (NCRA’s tolerated everything Stenonymous has thrown its way. You’ll continue to tolerate it because you are bought cowards who are sabotaging our profession under a false veneer of “professionalism.”). While constructive discussion is welcomed, anarchy, chaos and exposing NCRA to possible liability are not, and individuals inciting that type of behavior will be removed. Being part of the NCRA social world or listservs is a privilege, and there are rules to that access. NCRA will not allow people to be bullied, shamed, called out, or trashed on our platforms because a small group of dissatisfied people on a single issue do not like the direction or a specific stance (This is a propaganda technique. By calling us a small group, they minimize us and seek to make us voluntarily disband. Again, go fuck yourselves.).

Finally, it is important to remember that what you read on social media or through some hearsay discussion is not the only side of the discussion, or even accurate at times (But we won’t tell you what’s inaccurate because then the people we’re deriding can turn around and sue us for defamation, because, ultimately, we are spineless cowards.). Unfortunately, we live in a society where the loudest voices demand attention, but that is not always the best course of action or, once again, the full story. NCRA will continue to accept suggestions and respectful constructive debate in our formal channels of communication. NCRA has had hundreds of committees over the century we have been in existence. Committees are created, complete their charges, and are sunsetted. In the past five years alone, nearly 13 percent of committees have evolved or been sunsetted (13% is not the flex you think it is, bro.). Please remember that just because you do not see a response from NCRA immediately, it does not mean NCRA is not being transparent or is hiding something. Many times, the organization is simply getting everything together so as not to roll out something that is incomplete or challenging to administer with limited resources and volunteer time (And we are definitely not waiting to see which way the wind is blowing before we make announcements. Definitely.).

We hope that our explanation alleviates some of the miscommunication pertaining to this issue and also provides a better understanding of our advocacy outlook and general plan as we move forward in accomplishing all our strategic plan goals.

2023-2024 NCRA Board of Directors

I gotta be honest. It didn’t really answer a lot for me. It’s basically more of the same: We’re gonna do what we’re gonna do, and there’s nothing you can do about that.

Don’t be surprised when people push back. You fucking deserve it.

Side note, it’s come to my attention that NCRA was asked to stream the business meeting and stated it was too expensive. Using OBS software combined with Twitch, streaming is actually free, so again, more lies from an organization chronically afraid of change and criticism. Members should propose a bylaws amendment and force them to stream the business meeting. Then they’ll have to take that expense and shove it up their ass. Or they can have their parliamentarian make up a reason why it can’t be done and show everyone who they really are.

But what the fuck is up with forcing us to make a bylaws amendment for every single fucking thing we’d like to see done? And what the fuck is up with some volunteers being more valued than others? Our volunteer board is beyond criticism but we fuck our Strong committee volunteers at will with basically no notice?

You won’t win this by huddling in darkness and whining about how you’re treated on social media. Our “small group of dissatisfied people” is just going to grow and dismantle you in whatever way presents itself as the path of least resistance. In my case? That’s running the biggest alternative publication in the court reporting industry. How long until you tick off someone with some fundraising finesse and I make a new friend who’ll help this platform grow for a piece of the pie?

Till next time.

Stenonymous releases July 2024 readership statistics

Local Court Reporter Takes His Own Arraignment*

On Thursday the Onondaga Criminal Court arraignments had a surprise visit from the embattled z-list court reporting personality, X, formerly known as George Santos. Santos, having been charged with being too compliant with police officers, was discovered to be a stenographer just shortly into the proceeding.

Stenonymous publishes “real” court transcript for creative writing exercise.

After the reveal, Mr. Santos was asked by the Court to relieve the official court reporter taking the proceedings. Mr. Santos allegedly turned to her, smiled, and said, “don’t worry, I got this. I’m the NCRA Fastest Fingers Award Winner of 2023. Elon Musk is going to buy you a horse for your trouble.”

Once Santos was behind the keys of the stenotype, the rest of it went well for him. In the transcript obtained by Court Tee Vee, an unprecedented situation unfolded.

THE COURT: Well, Mr. Santos, it seems there’s been a mistake. Your lawyer, Mr. Richards, has pointed out that the accusatory instrument has a fatal defect. The case is dismissed and sealed.

THE PROSECUTOR: Oh, Mr. Santos, we are so, so sorry for our malicious prosecution. Please don’t use the transcript of this proceeding to sue us.

MR. RICHARDS: My client is a benevolent and understanding person. In addition to being the first man to the moon and the only person to single handedly save an entire school bus of children with his left pinky, he donated enough to charity to end world hunger and eliminated unemployment worldwide. There’s no reason for him to sue you, and your apology is humbly accepted.

THE COURT: By the way, Mr. Santos, thank you for ending the court reporter shortage fraud by creating a controversy so obnoxious that there isn’t a single person that hasn’t heard of stenography. That was a bold move, and it really paid off for your profession, they should be proud.

THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, it was no trouble. The court reporters living here and working every day to make this county shine, they’re the real heroes.

(Whereupon, court officers and court clerks all broke into tears as the sun shone through an open window and a beam of light cast a spotlight on X, formerly known as George Santos. As he exited the courtroom, a flock of doves carrying the mice from Cinderella fluttered through the window and dropped their furry friends, and everyone left the courtroom while singing We All Lift Together from the worldwide critically acclaimed MMORPG Warframe. Yes, including the mice and doves.)

Critics question the parenthetical at the end. Court officers, known for their professionalism, helpfulness, and dedication to the safety of courthouses, and clerks, also known for their professionalism and dedication to the just and fair operation of courthouses, simply don’t do that kind of thing. A source speaking on the condition of anonymity stated that in reality, the relieved stenographer was actually 1,567% more qualified than Santos, so we’re not really sure what occurred that day.

Breaking news. Check back for more updates.

*None of this is real. It’s part of Stenonymous Whatever I Want Weekends, a thing I just made up for when I want to do something different like this parody of so many flavors. According to a source that wishes to remain anonymous, in the incident this was based on, the erroneously-charged case was dismissed and sealed 14 days after arraignment. The source believes that a small percentage of our field does not understand the gravity of our work and how it can impact people’s lives, and that by making this excerpt and attached writing exercise public, we can all be reminded that anyone can be charged with anything, and that treating all lawyers, litigants, and the public equally is imperative. “It could be any of us one day,” he said.

Thanks again, Anonymous. I share these beliefs, but even if I didn’t, I’d probably have published anyway for the literary and conceptual value.

From Anonymous and myself, thank you for making this profession shine every day with your hard work and dedication.

Stenonymous Propaganda is Now Automated*

A complete calendar is a happy calendar.

A compliant court reporter is a happy court reporter.

Resist. You can’t win if you don’t play.

The newest in court reporting technology.

The best technology in tilting tripods brought to you by the Stenographic Society of America.

Conform. Trust the system. It’s always been this way.

The working court reporter. Confident and assertive.

Take care of your hands. They are your money makers.

The happiest reporters work for big box.

The OpenSteno Flatsy is taking the world by storm.

If you don’t keep up with your software updates you won’t be at the top of your game.

*None of this is real. It’s a project called Stenonymous Satire Weekends, designed to get into search engines and expose corporate fraud in court reporting. This one’s a little more performative than usual, but I hope you enjoyed it.

P.S. The artwork is so bad because it’s AI art. Now seeking independently contracted artist for stenography propaganda posters with equal rights to share and distribute given to us both. Request 1 image per month at $100 per poster image and 90% of support purchases. (Images will be made public, but there will be a designated space on the site for people to buy the image to support your work.) Estimated term of arrangement is one year. Terms negotiable. Write Chris@stenonymous.com.

Propaganda Guide for the Smart Steno Consumer

For those of you that haven’t read up on propaganda and persuasion techniques, you still probably won’t be too surprised to know that leaders, corporations, and all manner of people try to exert control. This usually isn’t done by direct threat or force, but by persuasion. Advertising, to some extent, can be propaganda. Networks of influencers are the modern machine that keep people scrolling. There are innumerable ways that forces we don’t even think about are trying to get in our heads. I confess that I, too, use some of the techniques I’m about to talk about. But that’s the point, if the consumer is aware, then they can make better choices. I am going to be stepping up my media game this year. You’ve all got to be ready.

Types of Propaganda:

Bandwagon Propaganda.

As humans we generally have a desire or drive to fit in. We’re interested in what’s trending for these reasons. When someone is trying to convince you that everyone else is doing it, they might be propagandizing you. In court reporting this is fairly common, software vendors will try to convince you to get on the new thing because everyone is getting on the new thing, but really they just need you buying equipment to feed the economic engines.

Card Stacking Propaganda.

This is about mentioning the positives without the negatives. Stacking all those positive cards on top of each other so that you don’t look at the negatives underneath. To be fair, this is actually a presentation technique and life tip, and I use it often, so I can’t knock it.

Plain Folk Propaganda.

This form of propaganda deals with displaying regular, relatable people and faces in advertising. It can kind of tie into the idea that “normal people” use a product or service being pitched.

Testimonial Propaganda.

This is about getting popular or famous people to pitch a product or service and is viewed as the opposite of plain folk propaganda. This tries to display people you look up to using a product or service so that you use it too.

Glittering Generality Propaganda.

This is when they use corporate speak that doesn’t really mean anything. Things like “we’ll be there for you” or “on your side.” Things that make you feel good, but don’t really convey a message or promise.

Name Calling Propaganda.

This is pretty rare in the corporate world, which is why I use it. This is exactly what it sounds like. Characterizing people. Calling people names. A fraud, a fake, a liar. It’s nasty stuff. I think my first use of this was when I called Frank N Sense a monster. Still kind of a monster. They posted that the NCRA board should resign. I honestly can’t agree. The NCRA board has the profession’s best interests at heart. Everybody has to follow through with what they know and believe in their hearts. It’s going to be just a little different for each of us. But I think they’re doing a damn good job this year and last. But anyway, name calling, yeah.

Transfer Propaganda.

This is when the propagandist uses something they believe will resonate with you in their messaging. Things like using a person’s religion to sell them things, or as I’ve said from our field, the “democratization of technology.” Most people like democracy, right? Transfer propaganda! If they’re using a vague concept related to something you love, it might be a flag.

Ad Nauseam Propaganda.

This is about messaging. Constant messaging so that you remember the brand. When I’m feeling healthy, I’m a little guilty of this, because I can write a lot more.

Stereotyping & Appeal to Prejudice Propaganda.

This is a big one. Pretty much every major player on the field is using this one against court reporters right now. We all have certain beliefs about digital reporters. We saw it when Verbit called them low skill. We see it when it’s used as a motivator to get people engaging with associations. We see corporations using it to eradicate us, pretending we’re obsolete because that’s our stereotype. The bottom line is that these players understand you. They understand how you think and what you like and don’t like. They understand how you feel about yourself. They’re going to be thinking about how to extract more money from you using that information. This was also effectively used to divide reporters, because for the last decade we were all on this “realtime is the future, everyone must tech up” drive, getting down on people who didn’t play the tech consumer game, and then when everybody sold enough equipment and training there, they packed up and went digital. This is why I have identified group think as dangerous to the profession. If they know us too well, they can manipulate more dollars out of us without giving us enough benefit.

Appeal to Fear Propaganda.

This is about using fear to get people to do things. It can be a product meant to alleviate a fear built up through advertising or it can be, in my opinion, putting you in a position of fear. On the topic of fear build up through advertising, Stenograph did this when it did its keyless drive. Gotta go keyless! Gotta buy the next thing! Gotta buy the new machine! We can all respect making money, but at a certain point, it’s just unnecessary oversaturation of the market. In terms of putting you in a position of fear, companies are doing it right now every day. They’re showing that they’re resolved to expand and switch to digital. They’re pressuring reporters to go digital, and conveniently buy their training and equipment. I think I’ve said this before, but if someone is scaring you, you might be getting propagandized.

Now You Know

When you start looking for these things, you will find them. We will all, one time or another, fall victim to propaganda. Sometimes it’s for a cause we really believe in. Sometimes it’s something we don’t really need in our lives. Sometimes it is the more comforting thing to allow ourselves to be propagandized.

Now, I should clarify, when I use these techniques, I do so for advancing truth and knowledge. All I have documented has been my honest perspective and recording. But in the end, people read and donate because it’s interesting, not because it’s honest. So if you catch me using some media tricks, it’s about keeping it interesting.

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