Whether you’re starting off as a PR Intern, Coordinator, Account Executive or even an experienced Account Director, one thing is for certain: You better study up on your basic AP Style rules if you want to be taken seriously in the eyes of the media.
I remember when I was in college taking a basic journalism course, and several students huffed and puffed at the many “interesting” rules associated with this journalistic holy bible we had to memorize. What is the Associated Press Stylebook and why is it so important to a Public Relations Professional?!
Essentially, it’s a style of writing developed and consistently maintained by The Associated Press (which is one for the world’s oldest news services). AP Style is the gold standard used by all credible media outlets. As a PR Pro, I spend my days drafting press releases, media alerts, bylined articles, and the list goes on. Showcasing our clients in a credible fashion is essential to building long-term relationships with our media contacts – this means we must follow AP Style rules.
If you’re a PR Pro, you know it’s impossible to memorize every single rule. With that said, I wanted to create a cheat sheet with the rules I find most interesting and useful here at Fish.
Rule #1 – What day is it, anyway?
- For dates and years, always use figures.
- Do not use st, nd, rd,or th with dates, ever.
- Always capitalize months.
- Spell out the month unless it is used with a date. When used with a date, abbreviate only the following months: , Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov.and Dec.
Rule #2 – The important title
- Often times, clients want to capitalize their titles no matter what, but that’s not AP STYLE! Remember, we must capitalize formal titles when they are before a person’s name, but lowercase titles if they are informal, appear without a person’s name, follow a person’s name or are set off before a name by commas.
Rule #3 – Online Lingo – Get with it!
- Earlier this month, Associated Press editors announced that the terms “web” and “internet” should always be in lowercase. “Meme” was recently added to the guide. And remember, it’s email, not e-mail. Fun facts!
Rule #4 – What’s My Age Again?
- If you must know, I’m having a quarter life crisis. But really, for ages, always use figures. If the age is used as an adjective or as a substitute for a noun, then it should be hyphenated.
Rule #5 – Numbers
- Never begin a sentence with a figure, except for sentences that begin with a year.
- Spell out numbersbelow 10 and use figures for numbers 10 and above.
Rule #6 – States
- Effective May 1, 2016, the AP will spell out state names in the body of stories. Datelines will continue to use abbreviations. Currently, most state names are abbreviated in stories.
P.S. – If you don’t have my blog post handy the next time you’re writing, you can also check out the AP Stylebook on Twitter for tips and updates: @APStylebook.
