Reston, Va., Feb. 3, 2026 — Feb. 7-14 marks the 14th Court Reporting & Captioning Week, sponsored by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers, and the Association’s Secretary-Treasurer Stacey M. Potenza, CRC, from Secretary-Treasurer McKinney, Texas, wants to share with you and the public more about this viable career choice that offers great benefits and does not require a four-year degree.
Potenza is a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) provider and broadcast captioner with more than 18 years of experience providing realtime captioning. She holds the nationally recognized professional certification of Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC).
Potenza is excited to share more about this profession with public and can address why stenography is such a special skill, more about the machine and technology she relies on to do her job, earning potential, flexibility, and the many types of venues court reporters and captioners can find themselves working in. She can also discuss:
Why there is an increasing demand for more reporters and captioners to meet the growing number of employment opportunities available nationwide and abroad
NCRA’s A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program, a free six-week online or asynchronous program that provides the perfect opportunity for potential students to learn the alphabet in steno, write on a real machine, and decide if pursuing an education in court reporting or captioning is the right choice.
Why Artificial Intelligence and digital recording modes cannot and will not replace the human court reporter when it comes to capturing the most accurate record both in and out of the courtroom.
The many scholarship and grant programs offered to students and new professionals by NCRA and the National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF).
Court reporters and captioners rely on the latest in technology to use stenographic machines to capture the spoken word and translate it into written text in real time. These professionals work both in and out of the courtroom recording legal cases and depositions, providing live captioning of events, and assisting members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with gaining access to information, entertainment, educational opportunities, and more.
About NCRA
The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has been internationally recognized for promoting excellence among those who capture and convert the spoken word to text for more than 125 years. NCRA is committed to supporting its more than 10,000 members in achieving the highest level of professional expertise with educational opportunities and industry-recognized court reporting, educator, and videographer certification programs.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the court reporting field is expected to be one of the fastest areas of projected employment growth across all occupations. Career information about the court reporting profession—one of the leading career options that do not require a traditional four-year degree—can be found at NCRA DiscoverSteno.org.
