Nancy Edmonds Hanson, APR

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Mass Communications 210
Media Writing

AP Style Overview
Reference: AP Stylebook

Back to AP style exercise

Media style uses some basic rules that differ from more formal writing styles ... and clearly divide professional media writing from amateur work. They’re essential for media writers in all applications, both informational and persuasive.

Simplify and clarify: AP rules tend to be "down-style" — that is, less formal and more direct. This includes less capitalization, simplified punctuation and shorter sentences.

Capitalization: Don’t overcapitalize! Only proper nouns are capitalized.

Titles: Capitalize brief titles when used before the individual’s name. Never capitalize titles used after the name or titles that stand alone.

bulletNever capitalize a title used alone, no matter how important it seems.
   The president signed the bill. The pope blessed the multitude.
bulletNever capitalize a job title that stands alone.
    She was promoted to vice president for market development.
bulletOnly a few titles can be abbreviated before the person’s name (including "Gov.," "the Rev." and most military titles). Check the Stylebook entries in various title categories (academic, courtesy, military, religious).

State abbreviations: Never use two-letter postal codes in text. They are only correct when used as part of a mailing address. AP style uses the classic abbreviations (N.D., Minn., Wis., Calif.) when the state appears with the name of a city.

bulletState names are always spelled out when they stand alone.
bulletPunctuate city/state combos: When a city and state are used within a sentence, set off the state — both before and after — with commas. The Moorhead, Minn., woman captured the crown.

Dates: Abbreviate longer month names when used with a date; spell them out when used alone.

bulletPunctuate month + day/year combos: When the year is used with month and day, it should be set off — both before and after — by commas.
   He was looking for the Sept. 4, 1888, edition.
bulletWhen month and year are used alone, no commas are necessary
   The class began in September 2002 and continued for six weeks.

Numbers: Single-digit numbers (zero through nine) are usually spelled out. Numbers of two or more digits (10 and above) are written as numerals.

bulletWhen referring to thousands, millions and billions in written text, clarify the quantity by substituting the word: 
He said that just nine industries account for sales of $14 billion each year.

Exceptions to the Rule of Nine:

bulletAge (always numerals)
bulletPercent (always numerals — spell out "percent")
bulletTime (always numerals — no extra zeroes needed after hours)
bulletDates (always numbers — don’t use 1st, 3rd, and so on)
bulletTemperatures (one exception: X degrees below zero)
bulletDimensions (height and weight are always written as numerals)
bulletMoney (The amount is always written in numerals. "Cents" is spelled out; dollars use the dollar sign ($7).
bulletNumbers are always spelled out when they begin a sentence.
    Fourteen students scored A's on the test.

NOTE:  The example above is correct: The plural of the grade [A} is [A's].
This is the ONLY exception to the rule that apostrophes are not used in
forming plurals: Single-digit numerals and single letters are pluralized with [’s]. No other plurals are made using apostrophe-S.

 
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