Did the writer really intend to imply that the neighborhood is bizarre, or was she hinting at the deals around the corner at a cool new bazar?
Practically every sentence involves choices for the writer. How formal should I strive to be with this particular subject? How do I handle titles? Capitalization? Addresses? Should numerals or words be used describing ages? How do you report speed? Scores? What about military ranks? Was the judgment handed down from a judge? Or is she a justice? What’s the difference?
AP Stylebook clarifies these and many other questions about usage. The guidelines organized by term or topic aim for swift comprehension among our readers.
Keep your stylebook within reach, consulting it when needed. That’s how we’ll do it. Check AP as you go, use it open book even on exams. Our goal here is building confidence in your ability to find answers fast, saving yourself from embarrassment.
FOR THIS WEEK’S DISCUSSION: Flip through the stylebook or Harrower’s AP tips and find a term or usage you would have misapplied, potentially looking like a fool. Scroll down to find the “Reply” button and ‘fess up for the good of the team
This class is my first exposure to the AP style. One thing i didn’t expect to find in the guide book was an ap guide to online usernames and what is appropriate, such as how they suggest a first name last name type of username or something that is straight forward. I wonder how this will change in the future and unique usernames become more and more rare.
I’ve never used AP style and I am totally new to it. I’m still in the process of figuring out how to use it and trying to familiarize myself with it. It makes complete sense to not abbreviate in news letters because its not professional. The AP style book is very specific in many areas.
I am also new to using AP Style with a few more of my fellow classmates. I came across it a couple times back in high school but my high school teachers said we would come across it more in college. Here I am for sure coming across AP style.I have came across a bunch of misspelled words but I recently came across 8 state names that are not or shouldn’t be abbreviated in datelines or text. Of course we come across only those 8 that are because it would make sense to capitalize those because the other 42 states are. I think it is cool to see that Alaska is one of the states especially with me just figuring that out because I just moved there this year well last year. Along side Alaska there is also Hawaii, Ohio, Maine, Texas, Iowa, Idaho and Utah.
I think two of the things that stood out to me the most were the fact that you don’t abbreviate all the states. Just seems interesting how you would abbreviate all but eight of them. Also, I realized that I capitalize unnecessary things, such as my bachelor’s degree, which I learned about when writing up my bio.
I never knew that there were so many sports. Well, I guess it’s more like different leagues and clubs. But with each of them, there is a different code to the name of the league. This was something that I never would’ve known if it wasn’t for the handbook. This will come in handy if I ever write a piece about sports. I can now narrow the article down to the specific sport and league.
When going through the AP stylebook, I have discovered on pg. 51 where it explains the differences that people should know when using the words being a citizen, a native, a resident and a national. In my opinion, I never really understood the differences between a citizen and a native because I always figured they were the same being that you born in a specific place. “The difference between native and citizen is that native is a person who is native to a place; a person who was born in a place while citizen is a person who is legally recognized as a member of a state, with associated rights and obligations.” So really its about the legal aspects of which is which. While a resident is someone who lives somewhere permanently or for a long time. And a national is a person from particular country that is entitled to hold that country’s passport. Its pretty confusing to me because it is all about the what is legal and what rights who has.
That is interesting, but you can see why AP would offer guidelines clarifying usage. I just checked an old stylebook from ’92 to see if this might have been added recently. It’s not, a reminder that immigration policies, movements of refugees, varying citizenship standards– these and other related issues have figured in news coverage going back decades.
I discovered that the AP stylebook has a recent change with regard to the phrase “climate change deniers.” Apparently that sounds too much like “Holocaust deniers” so the preferred choice according to AP stylebook is to use “climate change doubters” or “those who reject mainstream climate science.”
I would probably have used “climate change deniers,” although, when I think about it, I don’t think that phrase is exactly accurate either. I think that most people who fall in this category aren’t denying that there is climate change, they are denying that it is man-made. So for that reason, I might agree to stop using that phrase, but I’m not sure that “climate change doubters” is any better, honestly.
That’s very interesting about the phrase “climate change deniers.” I agree both phrases aren’t exactly accurate. Man-made climate change doubters would be better.
Writing about hot topics challenging to say the least. Inevitably one side of the other, sometimes both, will accuse the writer of bias. AP’s clarification here may seem mealy mouth, but does “climate change denier” apply to everyone skeptical of the science? ONE APPROACH to covering controversies let opposing sides make their pointed arguments in direct quotes. AP Guidelines don’t apply to how and what your sources have to say. The guidelines apply to your summation and characterization of motives and events.
Being new to using AP Style I found many terms and usages I would have misapplied. The most interesting piece of information I found was using state names. First, I didn’t know there are 8 states that are never to be abbreviated. Also, I was surprised to see Alaska is one of the states, along with Hawaii, Ohio, Maine, Texas, Iowa, Idaho and Utah. I would have definitely used all of these wrong.
This goes straight to making sure readers know exactly what you mean. Living here I know AK means Arkansas. I also know that my mail and packages sometimes end up in Arkansas, because even the post office and shippers are confused. Plus, there are a lot of city names shared by communities all over the country, clarifying the state often matters.
I am also new to the new AP style, and I for sure though it was okay to abbreviate “Xmas” for “Christmas” because I’ve been told by professors before that it is acceptable and won’t be penalized but guess they were wrong and I was too. Another thing is the capitalization of “Post Office”. I always capitalized it because it’s a name of place of business, so without the new knowledge I gained from the book I would have used it wrong.
Some readers will be offended by casual references to Christmas. It is OK to quote someone or published Xmas references.
“*thought” just correcting one word you misspelled shadeed. I also thought it was okay to abbreviate “Xmas” for “Christmas”.
Page 51 of the AP Stylebook explains the difference between the words citizen, resident, national, and native. I suppose the misuse of the word “citizen†could potentially be embarrassing, but maybe not to a high extreme. I was completely unaware that the term “citizen†should only be used to define a person that has acquired the full civil rights of a nation either by birth or naturalization. When referring to someone that is an inhabitant of a community or state, the correct term to use is “residentâ€. I’m pretty sure I have incorrectly replaced “resident†with “citizen†a number of times. One word I tend to fear using is “nativeâ€. On multiple occasions I have wanted to describe a person of any race as “a native of Alaskaâ€, if I knew they were born in AK. I have opted not to use it out of fear that someone might envision an Alaska Native. The stylebook indicates that “native†refers to any individual born in a given location. Just fyi, a “national†applies to a person that lives away from the nation in which he or she is a citizen.
When I first moved to Alaska, I used to ask people if they were native Alaskans, meaning born in Alaska. It only took me two times to learn that people thought I was asking if they were Alaskan Native, not simply born in Alaska. Super awkward. I don’t use that phrase anymore, it doesn’t work in Alaska the way it does in pretty much any state in the lower 48.
Wow, interesting!! How ironic that we have used the same reference to the differences between residents, citizens, nationals and natives. I think its pretty cool that they all have slight differences and that they all have its own legal separations from the others. Personally, I can be considered at Citizen of the U.S, a resident and native of New York.
That’s a good summary. Sometimes regional demographics figure Any writer in a state with significant indigenous population will soon learn the cultural and legal importance differentiating between native and Native members of the community.
I am completely new to the AP style and I am still trying to figure it out. I am currently laughing at myself with this whole thing. I too did not know that you should not use “Xmas” as an abbreviation for Christmas. I use Xmas all the time when I text people because I am honestly not inclined spell out Christmas in a message. But, it does make sense to not abbreviate for news letters or writing standards. The AP Stylebook is very specific and in-depth about so many different things/terms/places/gender etc,.
Nobody is policing your texting. LOL. And let me point out to all: sometimes texts become part of a news story, generally as a result of some court fight or because one person in the chain makes them public. In such instances, quote “Xmas” as you would any other term or misspelling.
I was not at all surprised to look at the AP Stylebook and discovered that there are so many rules that I misapply on a day to day basis! I think one of the ones that I mess up the most, is that I tend to capitalize a lot more things than necessary. I like to capitalize seasons and random titles because I think that is what is correct. I also for sure like to write out things in the full, like the long version of a state or the long version of a month. I would have absolutely messed up while writing California. I think another thing I am going to have a lot of mishaps in is punctuation after an abbreviation, especially if a comma is necessary. Mr., 1980s, 7s, La., all of these have different punctuations than I thought was typical.
I agree with you. I am constantly writing everything out in full and I also tend to capitalize random titles and things. I had to laugh at myself while I was reading through the AP Stylebook.
It can save us from looking foolish, and worse…
I have a tendency to write out the long version of words, too! With states, it’s because I don’t always know the correct abbreviation. I know… all I have to do is google “state abbreviations†but that takes too long ; ) It’s amazing how many people think AK is the abbreviation for Arkansas. As for capitalizing words, I think I make the opposite mistake. I tend to not capitalize when I should. Commas, on the other hand, I over use them. I vividly remember being told to use a comma any time there is a pause in the sentence. The problem with using a comma every time there is a pause in the sentence, is that I pause a lot! It always sounds good, until I go back and read it again : ) The more I look through the AP Stylebook, the more I like it.
Advice from a reporter: Don’t get too caught up in really detailed punctuation arguments unless you are a copy editor at heart.
As I didn’t know a thing about AP style previously, I thought I’d find a lot of things that I would misapply, and I was correct. I went straight to numbers and learned that we are supposed to abbreviate numbers as “No.” when referring to a position or rank. There is so much information about things that we are supposed to use numbers for. We are supposed to spell out a number at the start of a sentence, use hyphens for ages and heights, and decimalization shouldn’t exceed two places in most cases. I also learned that cardinal numbers are counting numbers or showing how many of something. There is also a city in Germany that should be spelled a certain way rather than what it is noted. When referring to a page number, we are to capitalize “page”. The last thing I’ll point out is not to use “Xmas” as an abbreviation for Christmas, but it seems like common sense not to. Some of the things I pointed out I already knew but it’s interesting how detailed the guidelines are and how much information is in this text. This book seems like a lifesaver for AP style writes. Also, I have the 2018 version of the text, does anyone else?
After reading this I had to go look at the section on numbers and was so surprised to see I have been so wrong in this area as well. Also I’m using the 2018 version as well.
Anna, Latoya, and everyone else, recognize that the goal is familiarizing yourself words commonly misused and areas you likely need to double check, such as military titles and court references. Use the stylebook like a dictionary. Don’t try and memorize it.
If your stylebook isn’t handy, Google “AP Style” and the exact word of general rule you are worried about.
I just learned that the “post office” is no longer capitalized because the agency is now the U.S. Postal Service. I learned I should also use lowercase in referring to an individual office as in: I went to the post office. I would have used this wrong!
I would have used this wrong as well. I’ve always capitalized “post office”. Ever since flipping through this book whenever I write now I want to check to make sure I am writing everything correctly.
Unless it’s a proper name, when in doubt, lower case!
This is consistent with AP’s general caution against needless capitalizations. Frequently businesses, agencies and other organizations capitalize words and phrases throughout internal communications. Those with professional comm staff strip most of them out of their press releases.
I’ve always capitalized post office for as long as I have written it. I would have also used this wrong. That’s weird I will no longer have to capitalize it.
An important consideration about datelines: the location refers to the place information was gathered. Not the subject. So, an Anchorage story about fish prices in China should carry Anchorage as the deadline. Likewise, an Alaska dateline on story reported from Seattle about an Anchorage earthquake is false and misleading. Datelines offer a measure of credibility by accurately describing the reporter’s proximity to events.
I’ve found AP’s section on possessives to be most helpful. Sure, apostrophe s covers most possessive nouns, but it’s amazing how many special situations arise: Proper names ending in s, plural possessives, nouns that are spelled the same singular or plural, joint possession of, say, an apartment by people with different names.
Quick comprehension! That’s the driving concept behind using figures selectively. Reading 10,000 is clear. $10,000, likewise. Referring to a budget of, say, 20,485,797,323 dollars, you are doing readers favor reporting “about $2.5 billion.”
It’s not that complicated. Spell out months standing alone or with a year. February 2014. When reporting dates, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. Don’t include years reporting dates unless it differs from what readers would expect. They were married Jan. 2, 2015, for example, needs the year or somebody might assume the couple got hitched only weeks ago.