Froke Paula - Associated Press stylebook 2015 and briefing on media law

2015 by The Associated Press

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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 91-070484

ISBN: 978-0-465-09793-7

Design and content management by Satchmo Publishing Inc.

e-book adaptation by BNGO Books

Produced in the United States of America

Cover design by Thomas Browne

Product management by Colleen Newvine

First Edition, August 1977

50th Edition, 2015

http://www.apstylebook.com/

The first Associated Press Stylebook was 60 pages, bound together with staples, a basic guide for newswriting. It has evolved into a comprehensive reference manual that fills more than 500 pages and is published in Spanish as well as English across an array of digital platforms, encompassing the collective wisdom of its readers. Despite drastic changes in the media landscape, one constant remains: The AP Stylebook is a definitive resource for writers.

Todays Stylebook still outlines basic rules on grammar, punctuation, usage and journalistic style, but it also reflects changes in common language, offers guidance on media law, explains APs news values and principles, and helps to navigate the ever-changing world of social media.

Input from a broad spectrum of readers and users has added nuance and authority.

A team of top AP editors meets throughout the year to make updates and improvements (our thanks and appreciation to Darrell Christian, who retired in 2014 after more than 40 years at the AP, including seven years as an editor of the Stylebook). Contributions come from the AP staff, APs member news organizations and subscribers, journalism teachers and students, specialists in a host of fields and everyday readers. Indeed, some of the most talked-about changes have come at the suggestion of @APStylebooks Twitter followers.

A work constantly in progress, the Stylebook is updated every year but always with respect for language and commitment to the original goal: to be clear and concise and understandable around the globe, no matter what the news is or where it happens.

However you choose to access itin print, online or via an app on your smartphoneThe Associated Press Stylebook remains an essential tool in newsrooms, classrooms and boardrooms alike, the bible for journalists and anyone who cares about good writing.

GARY PRUITT

President and Chief Executive Officer

In this edition of the AP Stylebook

Sports Guidelines have been updated with more than 60 new or revised entries, ranging over baseball playoffs, basketballs NCAA Tournament, O-line and D-line in football, horse racing, injuries, Olympic Games, race distances, soccer tactics, titles and winter sports.

New or updated terms include ACL for anterior cruciate ligament, day to day, double axel, free agent, hat trick, heatstroke, MCL for medial cruciate ligament, Olympian, shoestring catch, Sweet 16, tiki-taka, Tommy John surgery, trifecta and zonal marking.

An 85-page index of Stylebook terms with page listings has been added to help quickly locate words and definitions. It replaces the Quick Reference Guide of recent years.

The Food chapter has been expanded with nearly three dozen new entries, ranging from amaretto for almond liqueur and BLT for a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich to meze for Middle Eastern appetizers, profiterole for a small cream puff and tsimmes, a Jewish sweet stew often made from carrots and dried fruit. New guidance calls for using craft brewery instead of microbrewery for a small, independent beer producer, and avoiding the term preheat and using heat instead: Heat the oven to 350 F.

More than a dozen new entries are in the Fashion chapter. They include Manolo Blahnik, dirndl, Tom Ford, Jean Paul Gaultier, guayabera, Christian Louboutin, neoprene and Alexander Wang. For describing garments, the spelling is short-sleeved with a hyphen.

A new entry covers suicide in news reports. The phrase committed suicide should be avoided except in direct quotations from authorities because it may imply an illegal act. Alternate phrases include killed himself, took her own life or died by suicide.

Global warming, which can be used interchangeably with climate change, is another new entry. Climate change is more accurate scientifically to describe the effects of greenhouse gases on the environment, including extreme weather and changes in rainfall patterns, ocean acidification and sea level. But global warming is used in common parlance and is widely accepted.

Other new or updated entries include abaya; Affordable Care Act; airsoft gun; animal welfare activist; Arab Spring; autism spectrum disorder; Crimea; dog walker; drop-down; drive-by; Ebola; execution-style; justify; Kathmandu; National Security Agency; obscenities, profanities and vulgarities; One World Trade Center; privacy; Schengen Area; Uber; and Ulaanbaatar. Entries on militant groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State are also new this year.

Some terms that were previously in the Social Media Guidelines are now listed in the A-Z section. New entries include favorite, meme and Swarm.

Druze and Wicca are new to the Religion chapter.

The photo section includes our new style for caption signoffs on photos that are not taken by AP staff or freelance photographers, including handout photos and those shared by members. The chapter also updates our policy on handout photos with new byline titles and updated language in the instructions field.

This updated and revised version of The Associated Press Stylebook has been organized like a dictionary.

Need the acronym for a government agency? Look under the agencys name.

Should you capitalize a word? Check the word itself or the entry.

Whats the format for baseball boxes? See .

Following is a key to the entries. Double tap to enlarge this and all other images within this e-book.

a- The rules of apply, but in general no hyphen. Some examples:

achromatic

atonal

AAA Formerly the American Automobile Association.

Headquarters is in Heathrow, Florida.

a, an Use the article a before consonant sounds: a historic event , a one-year term (sounds as if it begins with a w ), a united stand (sounds like you ).