AP (Associated Press) Stylebook - James Madison University

439 Pages·2003·3.77 MB·English

Briefing on Media Law
with Internet Guide and Glossary
2003
Click Here to Search
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Published by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
50 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020
© 2003 by The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means
without the prior written permission of the publisher, excepting brief
quotes used in connection with reviews written specifically for inclusion in
a magazine or newspaper.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 91-070484
ISBN: 0-917360-22-2
Design and content management by Satchmo Publishing, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
Printed by Banta Book Group
Cover design by Christine Tash
First Edition, August 1977
38th Edition, 2003
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CONTENTS
FOREWORD vi
BIBLIOGRAPHY viii
STYLEBOOK
Key 2
An A to Z listing of guides to capitalization, abbreviation,
spelling, numerals and usage 3
Internet guidelines 125
Sports guidelines and style 285
Business guidelines and style 307
A Guide to Punctuation 328
BRIEFING ON MEDIA LAW
Foreword 342
Introduction 343
What Is Libel? 344
Liability for Republication 345
Privileges 346
Defenses 352
Supreme Court Decisions Regarding Libel Law 355
Summary of First Amendment Rules 360
Public and Private Plaintiffs 361
Miscellaneous 364
Applying the Rules 364
Points to Remember 366
Procedures for Handling Kills and Correctives 367
Access to Places of Information 373
The Right of Privacy 378
Copyright Guidelines 382
PHOTO CAPTIONS 386
Caption Corrections, Additions, Eliminations 388
Photo Kills and Eliminations 389
Text Wire Formats 389
NAA/IPTC Header Fields 391
Supplemental Categories 392
FILING THE WIRE
Coding Requirements 395
Format Identifiers 397
Keyword Slug Line 398
Reference Number Section 399
Version Section 399
FILING PRACTICES 401
PROOFREADERS’ MARKS 419
ABOUT THE AP 421
Headquarters 424
U.S. Bureaus 425
AP PUBLICATIONS 428
Order Form 430
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FOREWORD
Work on this Stylebook began in mid-1975. The orders were:
Make clear and simple rules, permit few exceptions to the rules,
and rely heavily on the chosen dictionary as the arbiter of con-
flicts.
As work progressed, we became convinced that while style
would remain the chief purpose, there were many factual refer-
ences we should include to make things a bit easier for busy edi-
tors.
So we have a Stylebook, but also a reference work.
As for the ‘style’ itself, we thought at the outset that it wouldn’t
be possible to please everyone. Of course, we were right.
Journalists approach these style questions with varying degrees
of passion.
Some don’t think it is really important. Some agree that basical-
ly there should be uniformity for reading ease if nothing else. Still
others are prepared to duel over a wayward lowercase.
We encountered all three of these types and, in their special
ways, all were helpful.
It is customary at this place to thank those whose aid and
counsel produced the volume that follows.
That list is long. It ranges from the staff of The Associated Press
to editors and writers on member newspapers, to other individuals
and groups with special interests in some subjects. In particular
we sought and received many member views on a variety of diffi-
cult questions so that this book could reflect what members want-
ed.
We are particularly grateful to those newspaper editors who
agreed to review the final draft and give us their comments as well
as those of their staffs.
The completed book incorporates many of their suggestions.
We have tried to make the Stylebook current and trust it will be
a lasting work. But language changes, and we will review entries
annually, making necessary changes by wire notes during the re-
view period.
Each new printing of the Stylebook will incorporate the changes
that have been announced on the wires.
LOUIS D. BOCCARDI
President and
Chief Executive Officer
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In Memory
of
CHRISTOPHER W. FRENCH
1940-1989
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WHAT’S NEW
In this edition of the AP Stylebook
-------------------------
New entries: al-Qaida, Amber Alert, assassination, Bahai Faith,
bioterrorism, earthquakes, farmworker, Founding Fathers, Global
Positioning System, ground zero, hand-held, hillbilly, blog and PDA (in
Internet section), Line of Control, 9-11, Saddam, software titles,
special forces, SWAT, Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, till, watt.
Changes and updates: abbreviations and acronyms, Bank of
America Corp.,
bay, CARE, Chicago Board of Trade, Coast Guard, Department, judge,
Korean names, obscenities, profanities, vulgarities, Safeway Inc.,
sentences, Texaco, 3M, titles.
Deletions: Hollywood, innocent, listserv (in Internet section), USX
Corp.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY — ix
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Following are reference books used in the preparation of The
Associated Press Stylebook. They are the accepted reference
sources for material not covered by the Stylebook.
First reference for spelling, style, usage and foreign geo-
graphic names:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, Wiley,
Hoboken, N.J.
Second reference for spelling, style and usage:
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Merriam-Webster,
Springfield, Mass.
Second reference for foreign geographic names:
National Geographic Atlas of the World, National Geographic So-
ciety, Washington, D.C.
www.nationalgeographic.com/index.html
First reference for place names in the 50 states:
National 5-Digit ZIP Code and Post Office Directory; U.S. Postal
Service, Washington, D.C.
For aircraft names:
Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft; Jane’s Yearbooks, London, and
Franklin Watts Inc., New York.
For military ships:
Jane’s Fighting Ships; Jane’s Yearbooks, London, and Franklin
Watts Inc., New York.
For non-military ships:
Lloyd’s Register of Shipping; Lloyd’s Register of Shipping Trust
Corp. Ltd., London.
For railroads:
Official Railway Guide — Freight Service, and Official Railway
Guide — Passenger Service, Travel Edition; Official Railway Guide,
New York.
For federal government questions:
Official Congressional Directory; U.S. Government Printing Of-
fice, Washington, D.C.
For foreign government questions:
Political Handbook of the World; McGraw-Hill Book Co., New
York.
For the formal name of a business:Standard & Poor’s Register
of Corporations, Directors and Executives; Standard & Poor’s Corp.,
New York.
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x— BIBLIOGRAPHY
For religion questions:
Handbook of Denominations in the United States; Abingdon
Press, Nashville, Tenn., and New York.
World Christian Encylopedia; Second Edition; Oxford University
Press, New York, N.Y.
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches; Abingdon Press,
Nashville, Tenn., and New York, for the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., New York.
Other references consulted in the preparation of the AP Style-
book:
Bernstein, Theodore M. The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to
English Usage. Atheneum, 1965.
Bernstein, Theodore M. More Language That Needs Watching.
Channel Press, 1962.
Bernstein, Theodore M. Watch Your Language. Atheneum,
1958.
Cappon, Rene J. The Word. The Associated Press, 1982; second
edition, 1991.
Follett, Wilson (edited and completed by Jacques Barzun). Mod-
ern American Usage. Hill & Wang, 1966.
Fowler, H.W. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1965.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition. University of Chica-
go Press, 1995.
Morris, William and Morris, Mary. Harper Dictionary of Contem-
porary Usage. Harper & Row, 1975; second edition, 1985.
Newton, Harry, Newton’s Telecom Dictionary, 15th Edition.
Miller Freeman, Inc., 1999.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Problem Words & Expressions. Mc-
Graw-Hill Book Co., 1975.
Skillin, Marjorie E. and Gay, Robert M. Words Into Type. Pren-
tice-Hall Inc., 1974.
Strunk, William Jr. and White, E.B. The Elements of Style, sec-
ond edition. The Macmillan Co., 1972.
Also consulted were the stylebooks of the Boston Globe, Indi-
anapolis News, Kansas City Star, Los Angeles Times, Miami Her-
ald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Newsday, New York Times,
Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal, and the U.S. Government Print-
ing Office.
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