Media Writing and AP Style. What is AP Style?
- Gary-Alan Hopkins
- Feb 16, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 30, 2021
Table of Contents
AP Style Basics
Numbers & Dates
Helpful AP Style Links
Brief History of The Associated Press Style
The Associated Press (AP) is the world’s largest news organization and was established in 1848 by six New York newspapers who wished to share information related to international news. This saved the newspapers money by sharing the cost of information. Furthermore, this helped prevent competition for information. The first Associated Press Stylebook was published in 1977. The Associated Press Stylebook is currently in its 55th Edition and offers guidelines on how to use grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. (1) The Associated Press Style is the industry standard for journalists, other media and news writers as a way to bring consistency, clarity, and accuracy to media writing.
AP Style Basics
The following is a list of some AP Style basics and helpful AP Style links.
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Title abbreviation for a person in the medical and political field such as Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Rep., the Rev. and Sen. are required when they are before a person's full name and occur outside of a direct quotation. However, you will only need to be used the formal titles in the first reference when they appear outside of direct quotes. Subsequent references only require the last name with no title. (2)
Example:
On June 20, Sen. Tim McDonald visited the disaster site in Montana. (Correct!)
On June 20, Tim McDonald Senator of Montana visited the Disaster site. (Correct!)
On June 20, Tim McDonald Sen. of Montana visited the disaster site. (Incorrect!)
Addresses
Always use numerical expression when writing a numbered address.
Use abbreviation for Ave., Blvd., St., and directional cues when used in conjunction with a numbered address.
Example:
2138 Main St. (Correct!)
2138 Main Street (Incorrect!)
Words like road, drive or alley should not be abbreviated. Write the entire word.
Examples:
38 N. Chapel Drive (Correct!)
38 N. Chapel Dr. (Incorrect!)
9916 S. Palmdale Road (Correct!)
9916 S. Palmdale Rd. (Incorrect!)
Capitalize and write out directional cues and street names when used without a numbered address. First through Ninth must be spelled out when a street name is a number. Use numerical digits for streets 10th and higher.
Examples:
North Sixth Street (Correct!)
North 6th Street (Incorrect!)
516 N. 10th St. (Correct!)
516 N. Tenth St. (Incorrect!)
Ages
Use numerical figures for ages. Ages should be hyphenated when the age is used as an adjective or as a replacement for a noun.
Examples:
A 46-year-old construction worker. (Correct!)
A 46 year old construction worker. (Incorrect!)
The doctor was 28 years old when she graduated from medical school. (Correct!)
The doctor was 28-years-old when she graduated from medical school. (Incorrect!)
The nurse was in his 30s. (Correct!)
The nurse was in his 30's. (Incorrect!)
Numbers & Dates
If you are describing a range only use an apostrophe when abbreviating a time period such as decades or centuries. Do not use an apostrophe between the date and "s" when referring to a decade or century.
Examples:
The 1980s were 30 years ago. (Correct!)
The '80s were 30 years ago. (Correct!)
The 80's were 30 years ago. (Incorrect!)
When writing always remember to capitalize months. Write the full spelling of the month when used without a date. If using a month with a date the following months can be abbreviated. Jan., Feb., Aug., Oct., Sept., Nov., and Dec.
Examples:
It was January when she last visited with her friends. (Correct!)
It was january when she last visited with her friends (Incorrect!)
It was Jan. 20 when she last visited with her friends. (Correct!)
It was Jan. when she last visited with her friends. (Incorrect!)
If writing dates or years only use numerical expressions and do not use th, nd, st, etc. after a number.
Examples:
It was June 20 when their daughter was last home to visit. (Correct!)
It was June 20th when their daughter was last home to visit. (Incorrect!)
When writing out the month, date and year together you must use an apostrophe between the date and year.
Examples:
On June 28, 1985, the temperature reached 100 degrees outside. (Correct!)
On June 28 1985, the temperature reached 100 degrees outside. (Incorrect!)
When writing about the temperature always use Arabic figures except for zero.
Examples:
It reached 84 degrees outside yesterday. (Correct!)
The wind chill will drop below zero degrees overnight. (Correct!)
It reached eighty-four degrees outside yesterday. (Incorrect!)
The wind chill will drop below 0 degrees overnight. (Incorrect!)
When writing percentages use Arabic figures and spell out the word percent.
Examples:
He left a 15 percent tip for the waiter. (Correct!)
He left a fifteen percent tip for the waiter. (Incorrect!)
He left a 15% tip for the waiter. (Incorrect!)
When beginning a sentence do not use an Arabic figure except when starting a sentence with a year.
Examples:
1969 was a year to remember. (Correct!)
Nineteen Sixty Nine was a year to remember. (Incorrect!)
Ten Thousand people died in the disaster. (Correct!)
10,000 people died in the disaster. (Incorrect!)
Use Arabic figures when referring to monetary value. Write out the entire word when referring to cents or amounts greater than $1 million. Write the entire word for cents, millions, billions, trillions, etc.
Examples:
The city's budget for road construction was over $5 million this year. (Correct!)
The city's budget for road construction was over $5,500,000 this year. (Correct!)
The total grocery bill came to $25.64 with taxes. (Correct!)
The city's budget for road construction was over $5,000,000 this year. (Incorrect!)
Helpful AP Style Links
University of Arkansas for Medical Science
(Most Comprehensive FREE guide)
Associated Press
Purchase AP Style Quizzes, AP Stylebook & More
Purdue University Writing Lab
Northern Michigan University Writing Center
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Boston University
Journalist's Resource
The Balance Small Business
Final Thoughts
There are tons of free online resources that can help you write in AP Style. However, if you are in the media industry or a freelance writer that writes a lot of articles that require the AP Style it may be beneficial to purchase the most recent edition of the AP Stylebook from the Associated Press. What are some of your favorite writing resources? What type of content do you write?
References
Northern Michigan University. (0AD). AP Style. Northern Michigan University Writing Center. https://nmu.edu/writingcenter/ap-style.
Purdue University. (0AD). Associated Press Style. Purdue Writing Lab. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/02/.
Gary-alan - I think I am going to simply echo the below (or above?) comments: I liked the readability of this blog. You did a great job using color to draw attention to certain parts of the page. Great job! In terms of writing resources, I really utilize OWL Purdue a lot. Like maybe too much? But I think a good writer has a list of places they check because they are trusted sources, and there is nothing wrong with that. -Kyle
I liked that you've included examples in your blog and that you used color, it looks great and fun to read. I also liked that you included resource links for AP Style, I wish I would have thought about doing that in my blog post. I don't do a lot of writing outside of the classes. Whenever I need to use AP Style, I have both a book and a digital version of the AP Stylebook. I find the digital option even easier and faster to use than the book.
Your blog is very organized and easy to read! I like how you took the time for all of the correct and incorrect examples of everything. The source I use is a guide recommended from a previous class I had taken when I was first introduced to AP style. It is the AP Stylebook 55th Edition.