| 06/11/2009
AP Press Release
New edition of AP Stylebook adds entries and helpful features
NEW YORK -- Twitter, the social networking tool that has turned millions of people around the world into instant micro-bloggers, has made it into the 2009 edition of The Associated Press Stylebook, along with complicated business terms such as credit default swaps and derivatives that have gained more exposure amid the global recession.
The new edition of the Stylebook adds a "Quick Reference Guide" to make it easier for users to answer the most common questions on topics such as abbreviations and acronyms; homicide, murder and manslaughter; and polls and surveys.
Twitter, the Middle Eastern eggplant dish baba ghanoush and texting as a verb are among more than 60 new or updated entries in the new AP Stylebook, which includes more business, food, medical and Arabic terms and expanded information on major U.S. and international companies.
The range of new business terms also includes collateralized debt obligations, Libor, recession-proof, reverse auction, securitization and solvency.
The subscription-based AP Stylebook Online also has been improved, with audio pronunciation guides for newsmakers, an updated search function and detailed information on U.S. and international companies. The Online version is updated throughout the year and allows users to customize with their own listings, examples and local deviations from AP style.
Updates and additions in the AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, the standard reference tool in newsrooms and many professional offices across the country, reflect changes in word usages and in society.
There are new entries on adoption; storyline; the differences between coma, minimally conscious state and vegetative state; and different types of diabetes. The verb form of text, texted and texting has been added to the Stylebook.
The new entry for Twitter notes that the social networking Web site limits messages to short Tweets. The verb forms are to Twitter or to Tweet. Besides baba ghanoush, the new food entries include chipotle, Key lime and Parmesan.
New sports listings include knuckleball, timeout, tipoff, USGA for United States Golf Association, and water sports.
There also are more Arabic transliterations and terms, including Al-Quds, hajj, hijab and kaffiyeh.
Changes include the spelling of cesarean section, instead of caesarean section, allowing CEO on first reference for chief executive and mpg for miles per gallon, and requiring first and last names of sitting U.S. presidents.
The company names entry was updated and expanded to include 125 major U.S. companies and 65 non-U.S. companies. The Stylebook Online contains additional information, including each company's market capitalization, revenue, net income, size and business description, as provided by Capital IQ, a division of Standard and Poor's. That information will be updated online regularly, with certain statistics revised quarterly. Online subscribers will get access to this information at no additional charge. It does not appear in the print edition.
A new feature of the Stylebook Online is a package of audio clips by AP's Broadcast News Center in Washington, D.C., for pronunciation of more than 200 names and places in the news, from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to baseball star Albert Pujols and entertainer Beyonce. AP Stylebook Online subscribers will get access to a sampling of these audio clips at no additional charge. The complete set will be available this summer for a small additional charge in a premium version of the Stylebook Online; existing subscribers will receive complimentary access to the full package for the duration of their subscription. The audio clips will be updated to reflect news events.
The Stylebook Online also allows subscribers to submit questions on style and phrasing to "Ask the Editor." Dave Minthorn, manager for news administration, fields the queries and posts answers at http://www.apstylebook.com/ask_editor.php. More than 5,000 questions and answers on a wide range of writing issues are archived. A sampling can be viewed at http://www.apstylebook.com.
Online or in a print edition, the AP Stylebook is the essential tool for writers, editors, students and public relations specialists. It inspires such a following that the social networking site Facebook includes four separate groups called "The AP Stylebook is my Bible." An official Twitter account for the AP Stylebook, http://twitter.com/APStylebook, has 6,000 followers.
For newsrooms or other groups of writers who work together, site licenses to the Stylebook Online allow sharing of local style notes among users. If the organization differs from AP on a style point or has additional items that need definition, an administrator can add those local items to the site license.
The Stylebook was first produced in 1953 as a stapled collection of rules totaling 60 pages, and has grown to a publication of more than 400 pages today. The book's creation was prompted in part by a technical change in the way the AP transmitted news as well as a need for consistency among a worldwide editorial staff that churned out stories for newspapers with a variety of style preferences. There have been major periodic revisions over the past few decades, the last in 2008, and the print edition is now updated annually.
The new print edition and online subscriptions can be ordered by credit card online at a secure site at http://www.apbookstore.com. The order form also allows customers to create an invoice to pay by check or money order, and member news organizations can request direct assessment.
The new edition costs $11.75 for member news organizations and college bookstores and $18.95 retail. The prices remain the same as in 2008 in recognition of the difficult economic conditions faced by news organizations. Stylebook Online prices also are the same, with individual subscribers paying $25 annually, $15 for members. Prices for Online site licenses are based on the number of users, with the price declining as the number of users increases.
About The AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP.
On the Net: www.ap.org
Contact: Jack Stokes, AP Corporate Communications, 212.621.1720
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June 15 Update Sent to AP Stylebook Online Subscribers:
Editor's Note: The Twitter entry has been corrected to say that to tweet as a verb and a tweet as a noun should be lowercase.
Twitter A community-based message-distribution system that allows users to post continual status updates of up to 140 characters detailing their activities for followers. The verb is to Twitter or to tweet. A Twitter message is known as a tweet
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