Media relations pros are expected to write press releases and other news items in “proper AP style” (following the Associated Press Stylebook guidelines). This knowledge comes early as public relations and mass media (journalism) students are often required to write certain assignments using AP style.
If you’re new to PR and writing for the media, the AP Stylebook has been the leading reference for public-facing corporate communications for nearly 70 years. AP style aims to keep the news easy to read and free of bias. It offers professional guidelines on grammar, punctuation, definitions, usage rules, capitalization styles, abbreviations, spelling and numerals. AP style is widely used in newsrooms across the country.
As I wrote last year, AP style is ever-evolving, so it’s challenging to keep up with. To help PR pros keep up, PRSA hosted a webinar last week entitled, Writing for the News With The Associated Press, with AP Stylebook editor Paula Froke. In this article, I’ll share my key takeaways from that webinar.
AP Stylebook’s 56th edition
This article is not an all-inclusive breakdown of the changes presented in the new AP Stylebook, which includes more than 300 new or revised entries. The spiral-bound book is only published in print every other year, while updates happen much more frequently. You can purchase the print version, although you may find an AP Stylebook Online subscription more helpful in keeping up with ongoing changes. There’s even an AP style-checking tool for Microsoft Word and Outlook or most popular web browsers — presumably akin to the Grammarly plug-in and extension.
AP Stylebook adds new chapter on inclusive storytelling
As the webinar kicked off, Froke said, “We at the AP feel very strongly that being inclusive in our reporting and writing is essential to fairness and accuracy.” The goal is to be more inclusive across gender, religion, race, age, socio-economic backgrounds and several other areas.
She went on to say that the new chapter gives voice and visibility to those who have been missing or misrepresented in traditional narratives of both history and daily journalism. “And it helps readers (and viewers) to better recognize themselves and others in our stories.”
What is inclusive storytelling? Inclusive storytelling is critically important because it makes the media and communicators’ work stronger, more relevant, compelling and trustworthy. “If you’re leaving out swaths of the population, you’re not reaching those people, and you’re not accurately representing the world as it is,” said Froke.
What communicators need to know: As PR professionals, we should consider the sources we talk with, the images we select, the specific words we use, and the details we include (or don’t include). We also need to recognize that all those components can be viewed and interpreted differently based on the person’s background and experiences.
As communicators, we know that words matter. The descriptive words chosen can shape the thoughts and perceptions of those reading. Froke said, “That’s not to say that every single word that someone takes issue with is going to change what we do, but every time someone does speak up, it is worth serious consideration.”
Two of the examples provided convey different images and perceptions. 1) Is a person an addict or a person with drug dependency? 2) Is the woman elderly or a 70-year-old marathon runner? Very different.
More inclusion points to consider:
- Don’t use dehumanizing “the” terms such as the poor, the homeless, the blind, the mentally ill, etc.
- Be sensitive to the implications of words like insane schedules, lame ideas, turning a blind eye, he must be deaf, etc.
- Watch for unconscious or implicit bias (based on assumptions or prejudice) — use indisputable facts and data.
- Ensure you’re not employing tokenism. PR pros know that to earn trust, communications must be sincere, honest and respectful.
- Try to use inclusive visuals, context and background.
- Don’t overlook accessibility in communications. (More to come on this in a future blog article.)
AP style changes related to disabilities
Last year, I reported significant changes to this chapter. However, Froke said those changes were a work in progress — she knew she wanted to get a lot more input before the Stylebook went to print this year.
She explained that perceptions of disabilities vary widely. Language about disabilities is both wide-ranging and evolving. Disabled people are not monolithic. They use diverse terms to describe themselves, and numerous people feel very strongly about it. Many, for example, use the term people with disabilities. Both people with disabilities and disabled people are acceptable terms, but try to determine the preference of a person or group. Use care and precision, considering the impact of specific words and the terms used by the people you are writing about.
Be mindful that the question of identity-first vs. person-first language is vital for many. When possible, ask people how they want to be described. Some people use person-first language in describing themselves: a man with Down syndrome or a woman with schizophrenia. Others view their disability as central to their identity and use identity-first language, such as an autistic woman or deaf students. Autistic people and deaf people often, but not always, use identity-first language.
When the preferences of an individual or group can’t be determined, try to use a mix of person-first and identity-first language. This is the feedback the Stylebook team was hearing, and it’s the approach preferred by the American Psychological Association.
Some of the things to not do are as follows. Do not use euphemisms such as handi-capable, differently abled or physically challenged other than in direct quotations or in explaining how an individual describes themself. And, do not use handicap for a disability or handicapped for a person.
PR pros need to be thoughtful and avoid “inspiration porn.” Meaning stories or photos intended to portray something positive or uplifting, with the unintended implication that a disability is negative and that disabled people are objects of pity or wonder. It’s not that you shouldn’t write about it; rather, do it with deliberation and mindfulness.
Froke reminds communicators when writing that people with disabilities are experts in as many fields as nondisabled people are. Include their voices and their images in your regular coverage of any topic. This point also ties back to the inclusive storytelling section.
The Stylebook has also added a slew of separate entries with guidelines relevant to disabilities, which are too numerous to detail in this blog article.
One significant change she detailed is the new entry for deaf, Deaf, hard of hearing. When relevant to the story, use the lowercase ‘deaf’ for the audiological condition of total or major hearing loss. Hard of hearing can be used to describe people with a lesser degree of hearing loss. The phrase deaf and hard of hearing encompasses both groups. Do not use hearing-impaired, hearing impairment or partially deaf unless a person uses those terms for themself. The updated entry also includes guidelines for using the uppercase form — typically used to signify the culture or community, not the condition.
Other AP style updates
The social media and web-based reporting chapter was updated. There are also updates on this topic throughout the new Stylebook, such as how to guard against misinformation that can be easily mistaken for fact on online platforms.
The religion chapter of the Stylebook was thoroughly updated and expanded with 30 new entries. Some are African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sikhi, Sikhism, humanism, humanist, and “nones.” Interestingly, just a few days after the webinar, I saw this in use for the first time when I received my Axios PM newsletter: “Religious “nones” are the fastest growing segment in the Americas, even surpassing evangelicals, VCU Professor Andrew Chesnut told Axios.”
Probably the most significant religion-related update was the entry on Catholic, Roman Catholic. The new Stylebook advises using Catholic Church, Catholic, or Catholicism in the first references “of those who believe that the pope, as bishop of Rome, has the ultimate authority in administering an earthly organization founded by Jesus Christ.” Given that most Catholics belong to the Latin (Roman) rite, it is acceptable to use Roman Catholic Church on the first reference if the context is clearly referring to the Latin rite. However, when referring to the pope, the Vatican or the universal church, Catholic Church should be used since it encompasses believers belonging to the Latin and Eastern churches that are in communion with Rome.
There were more updates to race-related coverage as well as gender, sex and sexual orientation, and pronouns. Avoid deadnaming for transgender people who have changed their name from the name they used before their transition. Deadnaming is a practice that is widely considered insensitive, offensive or damaging.
And there are many more updates throughout the newly published AP Stylebook. A number of these revisions are outlined here in the Stylebook help center.
AP Topical Guides
Seasonal topical guides are available to all AP Stylebook subscribers. Everyone, even non-subscribers, has access to the most recent topical guide, which is currently (as of this writing) the Transgender Coverage Topical Guide.
Common AP style pitfalls in PR
Near the end of this PRSA webinar, Froke also covered some AP style rules that haven’t changed but are often misused by media relations and PR pros — specifically when writing press releases and other items for the media.
While I won’t cover them all in detail, here are some: the use of numerals, the ‘controversial’ Oxford comma, excessive capitalizations, quotation marks, $5 words, unnecessary apostrophes, and the frequent use of alphabet soup (acronyms not commonly recognized). Like last year, she reminded us about the recurrent misuse of exclamation points!!! 
I’ll conclude with a simple reminder, words matter, but the right words matter even more.
.
.*A version of this post by Tressa Robbins originally appeared on August 29, 2022 at https://burrelles.com/writing-for-the-news-2022-ap-style-updates/ and is cross-posted here with permission.
Professionals in nearly every industry rely on information from local and national print, TV, radio, online, and social media sources in some way or another. It’s not just communications and public relations pros that benefit.
Perform market research. The kind of data you need and how much money you’re spending will influence which methods you choose. Traditionally, market research has employed techniques such as online, telephone and mailed surveys, personal interviews, focus groups, field trials and customer observation. However, all research methods can be costly, time-consuming, and biased. That’s all part of why ‘remote’ observation through social listening is ideal. You have the chance to see and analyze what your target audience is talking about and sharing across various platforms. 
Tressa's Truisms 
You must be logged in to post a comment.