Being a journalist in today’s world is tougher than ever before. Indeed, this profession has always had some high requirements. But, when the entire industry became modernized, proving your qualities became tougher. There are several different reasons why we are telling you this.
Unfortunately, this industry lost credibility because of many dishonest people. The online world is facing a huge number of fake news. People are not quite sure which source of information is reliable or not. However, even if you tend to always share the truth with people, losing credibility is easy. After thousands of quality articles, only one that is wrong can ruin your reputation. Because of that, you need to carefully analyze every piece of information that you receive.
Despite that, you sometimes need to write about things that you do not like. For instance, your task will be to interview everyone. However, some of those people will have completely different opinions and interests than you. However, you are a journalist and you need to act like a professional.
Many people from this industry strive to find tools that will make their job easier. One of the things that can be helpful a lot is transcription software solutions. Still, finding the right one can be complex if you are not familiar with this sort of program. Just like fake news, many transcription software solutions do not feature quality. Because of that we would want to give you directions and talk about useful transcription software tools for journalists.
Enough talking; let’s find them out together.
Transcribear
We will start our list with Transcribear, one of the pieces of software that deserve your attention. It allows users to transcribe all the video and audio files. Journalists work with different types of files and it is great for them when they have more options.
There are two different ways of how you can do that. You can do it manually and that option is 100% free for every user. However, there is also an advanced version that will transcribe your files automatically. The free trial of this version exists and you can check the quality before subscribing to it. We attached their website where you can see how the program functions.
Trint
Well, there is a good reason why some people say this is the best transcription tool. It allows users to automatically transcribe different types of files. Additionally, you should know that its system is powered by artificial intelligence.
The process of transcription is easier than you might think. You upload the file to the program and the program will convert it to an editable, interactive, and searchable transcript. There is also a vocabulary builder tool that helps reporters upload custom lists of words. This includes things like names of the brand, technical terms, uncommon names, etc. As we said, the system is supported by the AI. This means that the program is learning from every article that you upload. You will have the chance to set up the program to recognize different accents in audio files. Logically, you will sometimes do interviews with people from different parts of the world. However, the accent is not going to confuse this program.
In the end, you should know that Trint charges on a “pay-as-you-go” basis. In other words, you can subscribe to service hourly, but you can also choose to subscribe monthly. This program might be more expensive than other programs, but it truly features quality.
Happy Scribe
There are several different reasons why Happy Scribe deserves your attention. It is an online tool that offers the service of automatic transcription. You will have the chance to convert different video and audio files into textual content. After you complete the process, you can export that file in PDF, TXT, or Word document.
A great thing is that you are not limited to the size of the files. The interview can be long for three hours, but you can still convert it with this software. Despite that, you do not have to wait for a long time to complete the process. In most cases, the transcription will end up within several minutes. In this world, every minute counts.
The biggest advantage of all is “heatmap mode”. It shows users where the algorithm struggled to transcribe. In this way, journalists will know where they need to compare the finished transcription with audio or video recording.
Yet, there is one disadvantage of this program that journalists deserve to know. The developers of the software suggest users not to upload files with heavy accents and heavy background noise. These two things can completely reduce the quality of the finished transcript. Because of that, if you are doing outdoor interviews, this might not be a good option for you.
Otter
The developers of the software describe the program as a smart note-taking and collaboration app. Each month, the users will have 10 hours of free transcription. We assume that most of the journalists will appreciate this sort of opportunity. This might be a good software for people that are relatively new in this industry. It is hard to believe that new journalists record the interviews that are 10 hours long in total per month.
Anyway, there is another reason why this tool might be great for beginners. You can use the most basic pieces of equipment to record the interviews. This includes a mobile phone and a computer device that most of the journalists do not use.
Indeed, the transcription process is not going to take you more than 5 minutes. However, if you plan to get a more accurate version, you will have to wait a bit longer. The good thing is that users can train the app and improve its accuracy over time. You can use it through a website, but you can also download an app. Both ways are equally good.
Conclusion
These four transcription software tools can help the lives of journalists easier. However, there is one thing that we need to add. Do not hesitate to invest a small amount of money if that is required. This investment will pay off in the end. Despite that, pick the one that matches your needs. They are all equally good in different ways. We hope that our mini-reviews will help you make the right decision.
Nicola Holder 