The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, or more commonly known as the bible around PR agencies and newsrooms, has released its latest edition. The new 2018 issue, which became available in May, has more than 200 new entries to help guide journalists and other commutators accurately cover the changing social, political and cultural arenas.
For those unfamiliar, AP Style is an English grammar style (and usage) guide that has helped standardize communications. Although originally designed for journalists, AP Style has become the go-to reference for the majority of corporate and public-facing communications. Every spring, the stylebook is updated to incorporate new rules and guidelines for capitalization, abbreviations, spellings, numbers, and more.
Staying up to date on these changes will help all corporate communicators avoid falling victim to tricky grammar and punctuation mistakes. For those eager to read more about the new updates, check out this article or tune in to PR Daily’s webinar, “2018 AP Stylebook Webinar,” which is scheduled for Tuesday, June 26.
Below is a list of 10 of the roughly 200 new changes you’ll find in the 2018 edition.
- The new issue explains that using “2D” and “3D” no longer requires hyphens and it is also OK to start a sentence with a numeral-and-letter combination such as “3D movie” or “2D cartoon.” However, this change, as well as starting a sentence with a year, remains the only circumstances when it is OK (according to AP Style) to start a sentence with a number.
- Tech terms. Communicators (and gamers) should take note that a few terms related to the tech industry have been updated. Terms such as “homepage” and “smartwatch” can be written as one word. “Timeshare” was also added to the list of approved one-word words, however, healthcare is still two.
- Sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. The new issue highlights the distinction between when and how to accurately use the terms “sexual harassment” and “sexual misconduct.” The update also includes clarification around correctly using the terms “survivor” and “victim.”
- Groups of people and race relations. The 2018 style book outlines proper terms for referring to people of different racial backgrounds. For example, “The terms ‘biracial’ and ‘multiracial’ are acceptable, when clearly relevant to describe people with more than one racial heritable.” AP notes that these terms are best used when describing large, diverse groups of multiple people rather than individuals. The new issue cautions communicators to avoid using “mixed-race,” as it carries negative connotations. Only use mixed-race if the individual or subject of the article prefers the term. The new guide also reminds writers that while it is inaccurate to call people under the age of 18 “men” or “women” and people 18 and older “boys” and “girls,” to be wary of the nuances and unintentional implications.
- Bulleted lists. Two new and potentially controversial suggestions when writing bulleted lists are to use dashes instead of bullets and to always use periods (rather than semicolons) at the end of each section, even if it is a phrase and not a sentence. (AP Style reminds writers that it is still correct to use bullets if preferred.) Although a standard practice, the new edition clarifies to always capitalize the first word of a bulleted or dashed phrase.
- Emoji and GIFs. In the interest of staying relevant and reporting about content and culture on the internet, writers can use “emoji” when referring to both singe and plural examples, rather than using the incorrect “emojis.” The new edition also notes that you can include uses of emoji or GIFs in your articles by describing the visual symbols or images. The example provided by AP Style book is as follows, “Chavis sparked a flurry of responses against the airline after tweeting a GIF of large crowds at the gate, with the message “#missinghoneymoon” and an emoji string of a worried smiley, a ring, an hourglass and an umbrella on a beach.”
- Co-worker vs. coworking. Another timely update is to drop the hyphen in “co-worker” when discussing freelancers or remote employees. For example, “Our style is ‘coworking’ to mean sharing workspace and amenities when people don’t actually work for the same company but instead are self-employed or remote workers.” Notice, no hyphen; however, it is correct to use “co-worker” when referring to a colleague within the same company.
- Polls and surveys. The updated stylebook also includes a new chapter with extensive guidelines around reporting on polls and surveys. Reviewing these changes will help journalists and writers prepare for post-2018 midterms and any other coverage of survey results.
- Types of foods. Foodies will eagerly await reading and writing articles about nearly two dozen of their favorite trendy foods such as ahi, amaro, chorizo, churros, gingersnap, gluten-free, grain bowls, India pale ale, Instant Pot, Kobe beef, locavore, matcha, multicooker, soba, superfoods, udon, began and za’atar. Microsoft Word will still notice some of these words as misspellings, so update your dictionary accordingly.
- Days of the week. A new addition that will likely impact drafting press releases and articles is that when referring to when an event took place, writers should use the specific day of the week (i.e., Thursday or Saturday) instead of “today” or “tomorrow.” For example, “On Saturday, I will not go into work.” Today and tomorrow are not incorrect, but should only be used outside of news articles.
Although these changes are now part of the “rulebook,” AP Style encourages writers to always use their best judgement and balance sensitives with AP guidelines. If you’re interested in becoming a master AP stylist, you can purchase the new edition here.