Tag: Books

Client Spotlight, Transcription

ATC Client Spotlight: Carmen Fields

While we’ve had the pleasure of working with many incredible clients throughout our 56 years in business, working with Pulitzer-winning journalist Carmen Fields was definitely a highlight for us. Carmen is a legend in her field, having led a long and storied career in print and broadcast journalism that’s led her to be named one of “Boston’s 100 Most Influential People” by Get Konnected™ and recognized as a “Legend of Roxbury” by Roxbury Community College Foundation for her pioneering work as a black woman in broadcast media. 

But Carmen isn’t only a journalist––she’s also an author. Her soon-to-be-published debut work, “Going Back to T-Town: The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band” is a memoir detailing the career of her father, big-band leader Ernie Fields. At ATC, we had the immense honor of helping her digitize analog cassette tapes and transcribing the contents for use in her upcoming memoir, and while we eagerly await the published book, we thought we’d share one of Carmen’s more recent newsworthy projects here in Greater Boston. 

A multicolor digital painting of journalist Carmen Fields with text below reading "Black Authors Collection Donated by Carmen Fields" and subtext reading "Doctor, Humane Letters '92" by Salem State University.

The Salem State Donation

Last year, Carmen made a groundbreaking donation to the Salem State University Library––her extensive personal collection of books by Black authors which featured several signed, first-edition works by authors including Maya Angelou, Colin Powell, Alice Walker, and Muhummad Ali. The collection also included landmark works by Zora Neale Hurston, Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Barack Obama, and Dr. Martin Luther King, all of which are currently in circulation at the university’s library. 

This exceptional collection from Carmen, generously donated to Salem State, has served to enrich the lives and cultural literacy of the student body, as well as to help introduce students of all backgrounds to critical texts by Black authors that have shaped history. The importance and impact of such a donation cannot be overstated, and is only one of many reasons we are so honored to count Carmen amongst our clientele here at ATC. 

Client Spotlight, Transcription

ATC Client Spotlight: Judith Bishop

For this month’s Client Spotlight blog, we wanted to introduce broadcast producer and reporter Judith Bishop. Currently based in Miami, Judith has worked in broadcast journalism for over 40 years––decades of experience that led her to write her first book “Changing Channels: From Just the Facts to Outrageous Opinions” as well as to begin hosting her podcast “More on the Story.” Since we consider ourselves fans of the truth here at ATC, we’re excited to share more on Judith’s recent work, but first, allow us to offer some background. 

Judith began her career in broadcast reporting in 1975 when she took a position as a television news anchor and reporter at WTVG in New Jersey, where she quickly rose through the ranks covering the latest in the political and business news of the day. During her early career, she covered multiple Democratic National Conventions, and was also responsible for several high-profile interview programs hosted by some of the biggest names in TV news, including Al Roker, Dick Cavett, and Tim Russert. Judith was also responsible for producing many programs at CNBC––thirty of which are now recorded in the permanent archives at The Paley Center. She’s worn a lot of hats throughout her career as a veteran journalist, from helping coordinate the launch of “HARDBALL with Chris Matthews” to producing documentaries and year-end specials, and now she’s adding podcast hosting and writing to her impressive resumé. 

Changing Channels: From Just the Facts to Outrageous Opinions

At ATC, we had the pleasure of helping Judith in the creation process of her debut book, which she wrote as “an examination of television journalism in the age of Trump.” An integral piece of the publication was the inclusion of interview snippets and extensive quotes from industry insiders, including famous TV news anchors, reporters, and more––and that’s where we came in. Working with Judith to provide fast and highly accurate, verbatim transcripts from these sources was both challenging and incredibly fascinating for those members of our team that had the opportunity to contribute the transcription, and we’re thrilled that Judith described us as “a one-stop shop for verbatim transcriptions at rapid speed and a fair price.” 

“Changing Channels” is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local bookstore. It’s a captivating exploration of the world of TV news in our modern era, asking––and answering––some of the deepest and most compelling questions about the ways that television news has come under public scrutiny in the time during and after the Trump presidency. We think it’s both a thoughtful and a critical examination of the search for truth in media, and we heartily recommend it to those looking to hear about the world of TV news by those who know it best. Her podcast “More on the Story” is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Client Spotlight, Oral History

5 Love Stories That Started in the Most Unexpected Ways

Every year, it becomes more and more common to find one’s significant other online, using a dating website or app. So how did single people find their match before the World Wide Web brought us all together? As the song says, “Love comes from the most unexpected places,” and to prove it, five couples tell StoryCorps how their love stories started:

Continue reading “5 Love Stories That Started in the Most Unexpected Ways” →

Academic, Client Spotlight, Transcription

Malcom X: A Life of Reinvention – Manning Marable

Malcom X A Life of Reinvention - Manning Marable - ATC Blog
 On April 4, 2011 Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention was published, and the magnum opus of Manning Marable’s life’s research was finally in print.  Sadly, for those who do not know, Dr. Marable passed away 3 days before the book hit the shelves.  Thankfully, he was able to see the book in print before he passed away. 

Continue reading “Malcom X: A Life of Reinvention – Manning Marable” →

Client Spotlight, Transcription

February 2010 Client Spotlight

February 2010 Client Spotlight - Atc Blog

As one of the largest transcription service providers for historians, academics, and researchers from across the nation, we have the pleasure of being some of the first ears and eyes to handle diverse and extremely exciting source material.

Hardly a day goes by where the team here at The Tape Transcription Center isn’t amazed or excited (or even inspired!) by the projects that come through our humble office here on the Common.

Now, we’ve decided to take the opportunity with our blog to initiate a monthly spotlight on some of our fascinating clients and their work.* Right at the top of our list of people-and-projects-we-want-to-tell-the-world-about-via-the-internet is Peniel E. Joseph and his pioneering work on the history of the Black Power movement in America.

A Professor of History at Tufts University, Dr. Joseph is a pioneer in the field of “Black Power Studies,” and a frequent commentator who’s appeared on NPR, PBS’s Newshour, and C-SPAN.

Dr. Joseph became one of our clients when he was an Assistant Professor at SUNY-Stony Brook and was working on what would become his critically acclaimed, award-winning non-fiction book, “Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A History of Black Power in America.”

He has served on the faculty at Brandeis and is currently a tenured professor at Tufts. His latest book, “Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama,” hit the shelves this past January.

Currently, Dr. Joseph is in the process of working on a new book focusing specifically on the controversial Civil Rights activist Stokely Carmichael, a.k.a. Kwame Ture.

*Caveat: As excited as we may be about the work we do here, privacy is absolutely essential for many of our clients. Therefore, we will only feature clients whose work is already shared with the public and who have given us express prior permission.