Q. and A. Do you use checklists when editing for reporters?

I actually did create checklists for some reporters who had certain “bad habits” that were easy for me to read over.  One gal, for example, often reversed you were/were you, and I found it very easy to overread the wrong one.  For her, I actually created an E-global that had the conflict set up which I ran through the file, then deleted.  I could see the conflict coming as I proofread, and when I got to it, I’d choose the correct one. 

Years ago, I worked for a reporter who was on a different system, so I imported his files through RTF into CC.  However, it would create double periods, double Q’s and A’s, and some other funky stuff I don’t remember now.  I made an E-global table I ran through his files that made two periods into one, deleted double Q’s and A’s, and fixed some other things. (Macros would also work for this.)   I remember having checklists at some point, too, where I’d search through files for certain reappearing things. 

The trick is figuring out the things you miss and then setting up a way to catch them.  If the problem was reporters writing two different words the same way, I’d look through my other reporters’ files and give them suggestions on how to differentiate the words.  A simplistic example might be ^ there ^ their.  You have to build some trust first, but once you do, I think the reporter appreciates the “team feel” of you both working toward cleaner transcripts.  And over a little time, it starts to make a big difference in how much editing you have to do, not to mention when the reporter has to do realtime or put out an excerpt, s/he is going to look a lot better to the attorneys and judges.

Thanks for asking that question, and happy scoping!