Thursday, June 14, 2012

Associated Press Stylebook Updates for 2012


Posted by Amanda Walsh

For many public relations professionals, the AP Stylebook is our writing Bible. It answers questions about hyphens, word usage, spelling and grammar. For this very reason it is so important to stay on top of changes made to the 2012 Stylebook. The recently released, 500-page, news writing guide has 270 new entries this year.

This article on Ragan.com highlights the most note-worthy changes for PR professionals.

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Hopefully: Despite critics’ opposition to the addition, the AP now allows the use of the word meaning “it is hoped.”

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Fashion lingo: Take note all you Fashion PR folks. Tiffany & Co., Velcro and A-line have been added into the AP Stylebook among other commonly-used words.

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Broadcast language: Words and phrases such as b-roll, cut, fade, live shot, voice-over and VO are now accepted.

- Social Media guidelines: With the debut of social media terms in 2010, AP continues to add terms to its Stylebook. This year modified tweet, direct message and cloud were added.

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Miscellaneous entries: Entries include fracking, Huffington Post, Godspeed, underwater and year-round, among others.

These additions along with 185 other entries are the updates for 2012. A helpful resource that we subscribe to at Furia Rubel is the AP Stylebook Online since it’s always up-to-date with the latest changes. Happy writing!

Photo courtesy of Poynter

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