7 Reasons Why Media Is Obsessed With Transcription Services

Here are 7 reasons why media is obsessed with transcription services.

1. Transcription Services Can Cut Costs
   One of the main reasons that television and radio companies outsource work to transcription services is because such firms can provide up to 40% savings.
   TV stations particularly pay personnel high salaries, but would rather have reporters focus on investigating and preparing news stories rather than be sidetracked with spending hours on transcribing audio and video.
2. Media Professional Are Busy with Other Work
   Many times reporters need to devote most of their time to the process of setting up and conducting interviews in order to craft quality stories.
   Since the news industry is based on tight deadlines, as much time as possible needs to be put into getting facts right and finding credible sources, leaving very little time left over for transcribing, except to those who specialize in it.
3. News Interviews Must Be Transcribed Quickly
   The competitive nature of news, especially in local television reporting, demands that stories be documented as quickly and as accurately as possible. Transcription services with expertise in media are in a better position to handle this type of work.
   The key is to find reputable transcriptionists who have a history of meeting deadlines with other media clients. Professional transcriptionists are in the business of one-day turnaround times, depending on the nature of the story. Exclusive stories that are sold to other news services may require same day turnaround times.
4. Diverse File Formats Can Be Transcribed Easily by Experts
   Even multi-million dollar media operations may not always be ready to transcribe a variety of media file formats. They may specialize in particular file formats and need to outsource to a firm that can handle outdated, uncommon or new formats.
   An example might be that a witness has captured evidence of an event on a Hi8 cartridge from an old camcorder and perhaps the media outlet does not have immediate access to such equipment, whereas a transcription service might have access to various media equipment.
5. Media Clients Want Accurate Transcriptions
   Almost all media businesses are funded by some form of sponsorship. Even popular television programs must attract advertisers in order to stay on the air. As a result, media companies deal with clients who want transcriptions of radio or television commercials or documentaries that they have underwritten.
   This documentation can be used on websites and for company archives. But it must be done with high precision since the transcript may be viewed by thousands or millions of people, in which media credibility is on the line.
6. Expert Transcription Services Can Ensure Error-Free Quality
   If media companies had to rely on their own in-house staffs for transcription, they might have to constantly reassign the work to correct errors. If transcription isn’t an employee’s primary responsibility, they are likely to rush through the work just to get it done.
   But a company that specializes in media transcription knows to put in the extra time and care to ensure 100 percent accuracy. Successful transcriptionists strive to make accuracy and reliability key components of their work since their reputations are their main selling points to clients.
7. Timecodes are Provided to Meet Needs of Media Outlets
   Out of all the tasks that media professionals may find to be mind-numbing, adding timecodes to audio and video may top the list.
   Once again, this is work that transcriptionists are better suited to perform since it is work that helps shape their reputations, whereas reporters are more concerned about building credibility on high-quality journalism.
   Time codes are necessary to help index and quickly find specific segments of interviews. An expert media transcription service can also offer time stamping and video captioning.

A wide range of industries beyond health care and legal practices are turning to transcription services in an order to keep accurate documentation in an order in a timely manner.