CAUGHT SHORT OVER SHORTHAND

This reporter has long envied journalists adept at shorthand. Instead of going along to the Summerhayes School of Business Practice to learn shorthand , this stupid fellow in his youth was distracted by nearby Jim Buckley’s dark and arty Newcastle Hotel, in Sydney, or made other excuses not to attend . As a result, my shorthand resembled that of an amputee .

I read with interest that back of beyond politician , garrulous Dave Tollner , on seeing NT News chief reporter, Nigel Adlam , take shorthand notes , made the flattering statement that he must be a real journalist .

This comment was discussed with a certain long in the tooth reporter , a shorthand master , who has both impressed and annoyed me for decades with his neat calligraphy . It sparked unexpected snobbery , a bit of looking down the royal nose at Adlam. Ah, yes, but Adlam is not of the superior Pitman’s school of shorthand, I was told; he uses a form of speedwriting . In a way , I am also a speedwriter . I scribble so fast I have difficulty reading my notes, accentuated by senile decay , unless I happen to have my digital recorder with me, the operation of which I have not yet fully mastered .