Articles

How Journalists Can Benefit from Digital Transcription Services

by Julie Clements Promoter

Journalists often record substantial amount of audio for interviews which may be lengthy or brief. These recordings are a key element for creating an informative piece of content. However, journalists face various problems while recording and transcribing interviews. A practical solution to use is a professional digital transcription service that can provide customized transcription at cost-effective rates. Journalist interviews are very important as these provide an expert perspective about any specific issue pertinent to the society. Therefore, accurate transcription of interviews with a reliable partner is very essential.

Keeping the data confidential

Safety of data and protecting the source any critical information is an important concern in journalism. With big data breaches happening every few months, you need to be protected. As a journalist, you need to take extra measures to ensure that your stories are kept exclusive and the identity of sources protected. Picking a secure transcription service requires a little digging, but nothing too hard or time-consuming. You can consider protection of data with the following methods:

  • ISO accreditation: ISO 27001 & 9001 accreditations ensure that the transcription service has gone through a thorough third-party formal assessment. ISO 27001 is focused on information security management while ISO 9001 is about general management systems. Both together form the basis of professional data handling which offers you more peace of mind.
  • NDAs and internal enforcement: Getting a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) signed may not be a standard practice with every transcription service provider. But an NDA has the same ability to internally enforce those best practices. If the company off-shores their transcribers to contractors all over the world, it can be hard for them to guarantee confidentiality, or prosecute violations. So, look for transcription services that keep their transcribers in-house and operate in jurisdictions that ensure good data protection standards.
  • Encryption: HTTPS is a protocol used for secure communications over the internet. If the website address bar shows HTTPS, then you know that any information transferred across that website is encrypted. So, know how your data is shared and stored on their end. Look out for the use of SSL or TLS encrypted log-in portals and storage protocols to ensure better safety. 

Pick the right type of transcription

  • Full verbatim: Verbatim transcription is the art of capturing every verbal sound in a recording into a text format. It is a process of capturing speech word to word, the way it sounds. It includes filler words, utterances, gestations and external noises that may surface in the video or audio recording. This produces transcripts that are difficult to read but if you want each and every detail then go for verbatim transcription. 
  • Verbatim: This transcription is also full verbatim but it is cleaned and the excesses are removed like stuttering, false starts etc. This gives you a clean transcription that is easier to understand.
  • Detailed notes: This is the process of taking a verbatim transcript and summarizing some points and removing off-topic conversation entirely. This is the cheapest form of transcript and the fastest to read. 

Rushed transcripts

Journalists have to work quickly with the objective of presenting it as news to the public as early as possible. Speech-to-text software can provide a quick and instant transcript that you will have to review to assure accuracy. Some transcription services also offer rush orders, where you can receive a fully-transcribed audio recording that is accurate in a short amount of time. This will save you a lot of time and effort, and they deliver a compelling piece of writing without you having to worry about transcribing an audio recording.

How transcription can boost productivity in the newsroom

Streamlining the workflow is the ideal way for journalists to boost their productivity. Time is money, so saving time is essential. Using transcription services to transcribe your interviews will leave you with a lot more time to perfect your story. It will also help you craft your content with care. This saves editing time and the matter can be given to the press faster. Transcription software can help your interview workflow by not only saving you time, but also keeping costs down. Transcription can help you organize your workflow and plan your work week, too. Rather than manually typing up your to-do list for the week, you can simply dictate and transcribe, which will give you more time to actually check the boxes on that list. Journalists have a lot on their plates, so any time-saving tricks should be a top priority. 

Speech-to-text software packages are available that can give you a rough transcript. But it does not assure quality. Partnering with a reliable digital transcription service will assist in providing high quality and accurate transcripts of interviews. They offer customized media transcription services according to the needs of the clients and ensure quick turnaround time at affordable rates.

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About Julie Clements Freshman   Promoter

7 connections, 0 recommendations, 42 honor points.
Joined APSense since, September 4th, 2012, From Tulsa, United States.

Created on Feb 2nd 2020 22:08. Viewed 393 times.

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