AP Stylebook

07/22/2024

Our entry titled “survivor, victim” offers this guidance:
Be alert to potential biases and assumptions inherent in the word victim. A phrase such as AIDS victim, for instance, not only makes it unclear whether the subject is alive or dead, but many AIDS patients do not consider themselves victims. Instead, use neutral, precise descriptions: He has AIDS. She has hepatitis.
Survivor is often used to describe people who have lived through physical or emotional trauma, as in abuse or r**e survivor. It is best to be specific when referring to individuals, especially if the person was never in danger of death. Use of survivor gets more latitude when describing groups. A group of Holocaust survivors met at the memorial.

07/19/2024

According to our primary dictionary, Merriam-Webster, beach towel, beach ball, beach grass and beach cruiser are all two words.

07/18/2024

Capitalize convention as part of the name for a specific national or state political convention: the Democratic National Convention, the Republican State Convention.
Lowercase in other uses: the national convention, the state convention, the convention, the annual convention of the American Medical Association.

07/17/2024

Our new Criminal Justice chapter advises avoiding the journalese terms slay, slaying or slain when referring to death.
Instead, we recommend the terms kill, killing or killed.

This guidance specifically applies to deaths, not the slang use of “slay.”

07/16/2024

Capitalize and abbreviate as Gov. or Govs. when used as a formal title before one or more names of governors.

07/12/2024

Fahrenheit is the temperature scale commonly used in the United States.
The scale is named for Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, a German physicist who designed it. In it, the freezing point of water is 32 degrees and the boiling point is 212 degrees.
In cases that require mention of the scale, use these forms: 86 degrees Fahrenheit or 86 F (note the space and no period after the F) if degrees and Fahrenheit are clear from the context.

07/11/2024

Some commonly used tennis terms: double-fault, double-faulted. Love, 15, 30, 40, deuce, advantage, tiebreaker.
Report set scores thusly: Serena Williams defeated Madison Keys 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Indicate tiebreakers in parentheses after the set score, using only the loser's total points in the tiebreaker.

07/10/2024

We recently rounded up all our entries on prefixes and rolled them into one consolidated entry to make it easier to find and understand.
We also revised some of our prefix guidance to align with our new primary dictionary, .

07/09/2024

Learn what journalism can teach you about effective communication.
Sign up for the new AP Writing Workshop to learn from top writers and editors from The Associated Press.

The AP Stylebook print edition, web-based access and style-checking software.

07/09/2024

Always capitalize Games for the Olympics, even when standing alone: The Games open on July 26.
This was a change beginning with the Tokyo Games from previous AP style, which called for capitalization only when attached to the host city or the year, to conform with the IOC's style and widespread usage.

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will take place Fri, Jul 26, 2024 – Sun, Aug 11, 2024. Follow the AP for the latest updates, schedules, results, and news from the Paris Summer Olympics.

07/08/2024

A Stylebook Online subscriber came to Ask the Editor with a dilemma: My Legal department changes "the company" to "the Company" in our internal communications.

Check out our Ask the Editor highlights for guidance on real-life style issues like this one: http://apne.ws/mtewLDg

07/05/2024

Are you writing about summer travel?
AP Stylebook Online subscribers can check out our Topical Guide covering travel terms, including highway designations, vacation rental websites, TSA PreCheck, mpg and road trip.

07/03/2024

The new AP Stylebook, 57th Edition, has updated and expanded guidance on artificial intelligence terms, including algorithm.
An algorithm is a set of detailed computational instructions that describe how to solve a problem or perform a specific task.
Check out the chapter for details.

07/03/2024

AP style uses the forms Fourth of July, July Fourth and Independence Day for the holiday on Thursday.

The Fourth of July is right around the corner, and the travel rush is already heating up. Millions of Americans are preparing to get out of town sometime in the coming holiday week.

07/02/2024

Write your way to success with the new AP Writing Workshop, which includes four live webinars with top writers and editors from The Associated Press.
Learn principles of journalism and writing that you can apply to your work in any field.

http://apne.ws/nV3myOg

07/02/2024

Remembering Darrell Christian, a longtime AP editor who was a member of the Stylebook team for several years before he retired in 2014. He died Monday.

Darrell L. Christian, a former managing editor and sports editor of The Associated Press, has died. He was 75.

06/25/2024

For years, you asked us for a training course to help you learn AP style.
We listened.
The AP Stylebook Workshop On Demand includes video instruction from the editors who make AP style, plus so much more.

The AP Stylebook print edition, web-based access and style-checking software.

06/21/2024

In the Northern Hemisphere, summer solstice (about June 21) is the time of the sun's maximum elevation and, thus, has the longest period of sunlight; winter solstice (about Dec. 21) is the time of the sun's minimum elevation and, thus, has the shortest period of sunlight.

06/20/2024

Study up on the basics of AP style, including numerals, capitalization and punctuation. Explore complexities like making a judgment call to suit your audience's needs and how to make your story better.
It's all part of the AP Stylebook Workshop on Demand.
http://apne.ws/H6OG8nz

06/20/2024

Heat wave, heat exhaustion, heat rash and heat lightning are all two words, no hyphen, according to our official dictionary, .

The heat wave follows an earlier-than-usual one in the Southwest last week, which saw triple-digit temperatures in cities like Phoenix.

06/19/2024

Juneteenth is June 19, the traditional commemoration date of the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States.
The holiday also has been called Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day.
President Abraham Lincoln issued the initial version of the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves free in Confederate territory, on Sept. 22, 1862, but it could not be enforced in many places until after the Confederacy surrendered in the Civil War.
June 19, 1865, is the date of an order by recently arrived U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.

06/18/2024

The terms ma*****na and cannabis may be used interchangeably. The term pot is acceptable in headlines and generally in stories, though it may not be appropriate in some stories. Cannabis is the usual term outside North America.
Some prefer the term cannabis because of arguments the term ma*****na has anti-Mexican roots.
Slang terms such as w**d, bud, re**er or g***a are acceptable in limited, colloquial cases or in quotations.

Recreational cannabis was legalized in Maryland in 2023 after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022.

06/17/2024

The Tony Awards are the most prestigious awards for Broadway shows of the past season, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, both based in New York City.
Plural form: the Tonys.

06/13/2024

Mexico City stands alone in datelines.

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s next president and its first woman leader in more than 200 years of independence, captured the post by promising continuity.

06/11/2024

The Humane Society of the United States is an animal protection agency headquartered in Washington.
It operates 10 regional offices across the country, but has no formal affiliation with the many local organizations that use the name Humane Society.

A company that bred beagles for medical research has agreed to pay a record $35 million as part of a criminal plea admitting it neglected thousands of dogs at its breeding facility in rural Virginia.

06/10/2024

No periods in EU as short form for the European Union.
The multination European Union, based in Brussels, Belgium, was created by the Treaty on European Union, which took effect Nov. 1, 1993. Its executive body is the European Commission, which runs the EU's day-to-day affairs, drafts European laws and, after their adoption by governments, ensures their enforcement across the bloc. It also represents the EU in international trade negotiations and conducts antitrust investigations.

A four-day election has shaken the European Union's parliament to its foundations. Hard right parties rocked ruling parties in France and Germany, the EU's main driving forces.

06/05/2024

Poynter’s Kelly McBride offers thoughtful commentary on why the Stylebook’s new criminal justice chapter is necessary:

A decade from now, American newsrooms will have replaced cheap stories with data-rich narratives that educate communities and hold cops accountable

06/04/2024

Thanks to Poynter for the in-depth highlights of what’s new in the AP Stylebook, 57th Edition.

The new criminal justice chapter includes more than 50 entries covering specific terms, some new, some revised.

05/30/2024

We use Merriam-Webster as our primary dictionary now.
If you'd like to make the switch with us, subscribe to AP Stylebook & Merriam-Webster Online.
One search returns results from both the Stylebook and Merriam-Webster for the most complete guidance.

http://apne.ws/NLrrHYo

07/26/2023

In 2021, we revised our guidance on the word injuries. We now say they may be suffered, sustained or received.
Often, simpler wording is possible: She was injured in the crash, rather than she sustained injuries in the crash.