AP Style Briefing
COM-213
First of all
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The Associated Press (AP) is a nonprofit news
agency with headquarters in New York.
Largest news wire in the country.
Formed in 1846 by five newspaper owners in New
York, looking to share the cost of covering the
Mexican-American War.
Reporters produce content that is fed to more
than 1500 newspapers and 5,000 television and
radio stations.
243 bureaus in 120 countries.
Similar: Reuters (London) AFP (Paris)
AP Stylebook
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Used
news
2014
2013
by the vast majority of newspapers and
outlets
Edition costs $30
Edition is on Amazon for $10 or less
Numbers
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Numbers one through nine are generally spelled
out while 10 and above use numerals.
Examples:
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“The student wrote five papers in 10 weeks”
“Bert’s bottle cap collection grew to 50 after
five years of collecting.”
Percentages: Never use %. Always write out
word “percent.” 50 percent. 5 percent.
(numerals before the word, do not write out the
word)
Numbers
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Age: Always a numeral
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Dollars: $5, $15, $14.46, $5 million.
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The 3-year-old boy. She is 18 years old.
The girl, 6, has a brother, 21.
Most college students are in their 20s.
But “12 cents” if less than a dollar
Fractions: Spell out amounts less than one.
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Example: Two-thirds. Three-eighths.
Street Addresses
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Numerals are used for the address number,
Street, Avenue, and Boulevard are abbreviated
when used with a number.
Road, Route, Way, Lane, etc. are never
abbreviated
Example:
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123 Sesame St.
1 Clearwater Way
1342 Lincoln Blvd.
2 College Ave.
My friend lives on Maple Street.
Dates
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The date is always expressed as a numeral
Abbreviate Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan.,
and Feb. but not March-July, when using a
specific date
Never use the “th” or “rd”
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Examples:
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We have class on Oct. 8.
We had five classes in October.
She was born on Dec. 7, 1990.
Time
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The exact time is often unnecessary.
Never use “:00”
Use p.m. and a.m. NOT PM and AM
Spell out noon and midnight
Examples:
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1 p.m., 3:30 a.m., midnight, 12:15 p.m.
U.S. States
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Ala.Neb.Ariz.Nev.Ark.N.H.Calif.N.J.Colo.N.M.Conn.N
.Y.Del.N.C.Fla.N.D.Ga.Okla.Ill.Ore.Ind.Pa.Kan.R.I.
Ky.S.C.La.S.D.Md.Tenn.Mass.Vt.Mich.Va.Minn.Wash.Mi
ss.W.Va.Mo.Wis.Mont.Wyo.
Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas,
and Utah are never abbreviated
Do not abbreviate in lone reference
Examples:
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She is from Flagstaff, Ariz.
She is from Arizona.
The fire began in California but soon spread to
Hawthorne, Nev.
Datelines
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News organizations and PR firms use datelines
when either the information is acquired IN
another place, or the PR firm is calling
attention to their client’s location.
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The AP Stylebook lists 30 U.S. cities that do
not need to be followed by the name of a state
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However, a local news organization like the Globe
will employ its own style, and most Massachusetts
communities are not followed by “Mass.”
Examples:
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DENVER – BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – PLAINFIELD, Conn.
Cities that do not require a state:
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Atlanta, Phoenix, Baltimore, Pittsburgh,
Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, Salt Lake City,
Cincinnati, San Antonio, Cleveland, San Diego,
Dallas, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle,
Detroit, Washington, Honolulu, Houston,
Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami,
Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York,
Oklahoma City, Philadelphia
Datelines are ALL CAPS
Example: BOSTON --
Job Titles
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USUALLY: Capitalize a job title when it appears
before a person’s name but lowercase if it
appears after the name
Example:
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Professor John Guilfoil
John Guilfoil is my professor
Sergeant Joseph Thompson arrested a drunk driver.
Joseph Thompson, who is a sergeant, received an
award.
Film, Book, and Song Titles
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Use quotation marks around the titles of books,
songs, television shows, video games, poems,
speeches, and works of art.
Do not use italics. Ever.
Do not use quotation marks around the names of
magazines, newspaper, or major reference books
like The Bible.
Names
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In first reference, always use a person’s full
first and last name.
Use last name only in second and subsequent
references.
Never use Mr., Mrs., Miss., or Ms., unless they
are part of a direct quote or you need to refer
to different people with the same last name.
(NY Times doesn’t follow this)
Abbreviate formal titles if they appear before
a person’s name (Dr., Gov., Rep., or the Rev.)
Know the difference between formal titles and
job titles.
12 Most Common Mistakes
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1. More than/over
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More than is used with numbers
Over generally refers to your place in space
Examples:
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I gave out more than 10 passing grades last semester.
My company has more than 20 employees.
The cow jumped over the moon.
Please go over there.
I went over to the world headquarters to obtain the
file.
Source of these 12 items: Inkhouse
12 Most Common Mistakes
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2. State abbreviations
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AP does not follow zip code abbreviations
NOT MA but Mass.
NOT CA but Calif.
3. Titles
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Only capitalize formal titles when they precede a
name. Mayor John Guilfoil. John Guilfoil, the
mayor.
12 Most Common Mistakes
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4. Numbers
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Remember to write out one through nine and use
figures for numbers above nine.
5. Because, since
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“I went to the store because mom told me to go.”
“We went to the World Series, since we had
tickets.”
“Since the beginning of class, she has done a great
job.”
We use “because” to denote specific cause-effect
relationships.
12 Most Common Mistakes
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6. Months and seasons
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We covered abbreviating Aug.-Feb. but what about
seasons?
Seasons are always lower case and are never
abbreviated
They are: winter, spring, summer, and fall.
12 Most Common Mistakes
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7. Toward/Towards
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Never use towards, or backwards, or forwards, or
upwards.
Never end in “s”
8. United States is abbreviated U.S.
9. That, which
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We use “that” for essential clauses
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“I remember the day that we met.”
Use “which” for nonessential clauses
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“The baseball team, which won the World Series last
year, finished in last place this year.”
12 Most Common Mistakes
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10. Farther/further
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Farther refers to the physical distance
Further refers to time or degree
Examples:
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11. Street addresses
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“I can run farther than you.”
“I want you to look further into the story.”
Do not abbreviate Road
12. Never use italics for titles.
Exercise
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Write headline, lead, and quote for this:
A fire in the Auburndale neighborhood of
Newton, Massachusetts destroyed a large 5bedroom home on January 20th, 2015. The fire
broke out just after 12:00 AM, and firefighters
responded immediately. The fire was contained
after 59 minutes and declared out at 2:29 AM.
Fire Chief Bruce Proia said “This is the
largest fire we have encountered this year. Our
crews arrived within minutes, but the flames
were so intense, fueled by the high winds, that
the damage was extensive.” No one was injured.