Shorthand performance rewarded at seminar

Hannah Scott, the winner of the Archant award for best performance in the 100wpm shorthand exam, received her prize from Archant North London group editor, Geoff Martin, at the NCTJ’s shorthand seminar in London yesterday.

After presenting the award Geoff said: ‘’Shorthand is perhaps the most demanding challenge for trainee journalists and Archant’s sponsorship of this award reflects the high level of importance we as a company place on that essential skill. It was a delight to be able to present it to an NCTJ student who achieved the gold standard: 100 per cent accuracy at 100 words per minute.’’

Archant chief executive, Adrian Jeakings, added: “Fast and accurate note-taking and fact-gathering is a key skill for our reporters and helps to underpin the quality of our publications, which is paramount for our audience. We are therefore delighted to support this award.”

Hannah works for the Sunday Times as an editorial assistant for the Regional team and also writes book reviews for the Irish Culture magazine, sub-edits property features for the Home section and works as a production sub-editor for the Sunday Times iPad app. She received a certificate and a cheque for £250.

Hannah studied on the part-time course at News Associates in 2010, where she gained her 100 wpm shorthand. Speaking about the award she said: “I found learning shorthand one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of my journalism career so far. I am very proud of passing 100wpm with 100% accuracy and am absolutely delighted and honoured to receive this award. It has made the hours of practice I did on the train worth it. I would like to thank all my tutors at News Associates for their support throughout my studies and in helping me to achieve the elusive 100wpm.”

Image: From left to right, NCTJ chairman Kim Fletcher, Archant North London group editor Geoff Martin and award winner Hannah Scott.