Reporting II Lesson Week 3: Newswriting and AP Style

There are so many styles of writing in the world today, yet journalists tend to limit themselves to the news writing in conjunction with the AP style. Technical style emphasizes the factual procedures for using instruments and machines, fiction writers employ a style of long series of conversations interspersed with action and description in order to tell a story, while still the Twitter style has people saying whatever they please so long as they keep it within 140 characters. Why then do journalists stick so close to their roots in the news writing style and Associated Press style? This article explores why.

News writing style has been developed over a couple hundred years of experimental journalism that tended to emphasize sensational happenings and long strings of facts over truth and understanding. As the industry grew, more people called for ethics in journalism which led to the formation of the Society of Professional Journalists in 1909. The SPJ laid the groundwork for the modern news writing style we know today. They created a style which focused on informing the reader on the important facts of the story before leading into a chronology or details. They also made sure that stories were credible by including quotes, paraphrasing, and references to source materials so people knew that what they were reading was the truth.

Writing in a journalistic style is often difficult, and takes a lot of practice to be done concisely. There are many of things to consider when writing for a journalistic purpose for the general public. The most important thing is to stay true to the story you are trying to tell, and to keep the facts in line. Without these facets of the business, journalism would be degraded significantly as a form to exchange news. The news business is controlled by people,  driven by the facts, and a product of the audience.  It is the journalist’s role to interpret and convey information in a way that stays true to the audience.

Within the news writing style there is a standardized set of rules for journalists to follow. These rules are known as AP style. Much like how APA or MLA styles are used for academic writing, the rules for the AP style of writing give journalists a clear set of rules to follow when writing articles. The AP style guidelines include but are not limited to rules for capitalization, abbreviation, spelling, and numerals.

    In journalism, it’s not uncommon for multiple people to have their hands in on part of an article. Many different writers and editors could work on a piece before it’s finally published. For this reason it’s important that they all use AP style for the sake of being able to always know what the others are saying. It’s also important to note that AP style tries to avoid stereotypes and offensive language.

Checking AP style has been the most challenging part for journalists and journalism students while finishing a news report. The rules are complicated, detailed, and some even irregular. It requires a lot of  practices. Journalism professors and experts are trying to summarize some  easier ways to deal with AP style. Debora Wenger, a 17-year broadcast news veteran, is a journalism  professor at the University of Mississippi. She summed up 12 essential AP style rules including the rules of  title, time, address, term, and abbreviation, etc. to help people remember and apply AP style in their news writing.

“I’m focusing on what I called the 12 big rules for AP style. These are the rules that I really do recommend people to memorize,” said Wenger when talking about the complexity of AP style.

    Before memorizing Wenger’s 12 main rules though, a writer must first grow comfortable with using their AP Stylebook.  Some writers may find it easy to use and look up whatever they need, while others may struggle.  For those that are visual learners, Dr. Kim Zarkin, a communications professor at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, has provided an instructional video on youtube, entitled “Using the AP Style Guide with Dr. Kim Zarkin.”  The video consists of her examining several sample sentences, and then checking select words and punctuation marks in the Stylebook.  Watching it is a great way to get a feel for the Stylebook, and to see what sorts of things you may want to use it for.

References:

• Harrower, Tim. Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide to the Craft of Journalism. 3rd ed. Copyright 2013. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

• Christian, Darrell, Sally A. Jacobsen, and David Minthorn, eds. Associated Press Stylebook 2013. 

48th ed. New York: Associated, 2013. Print. 

• "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Journalism and Journalistic Writing. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.

• Wenger, D. (2013) 12 Rules of AP Style. [Video Tape]. (Available from Youtube)
•  Zarkin, Kim, writ. Using the AP Style Guide with Dr. Kim Zarkin. 2013. Web. 6 Feb 2014.
•  "Journalistic Guidlines." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.