Style guides provide consistency, or a common ground on which media writers stand to effectively and efficiently convey the news. They model a common news language that all professionals understand and that audiences expect. Major media organizations work with large staffs of writers each day, and style guides provide a set of uniform rules on which everyone can rely. Style guides save considerable time and effort on deadline.
The Associated Press Stylebook,1 or AP Stylebook, is used by reporters, editors, and news directors in print, online, and broadcast journalism. First produced by the AP in 1953, the stylebook has grown from a 60-page guide into a 500-page publication published in English, Spanish, and across digital platforms. The AP Stylebook is the most widely accepted style and usage guide in the US news industry. Headquartered in New York, the AP is a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members. It is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering worldwide.
The idea behind the AP Stylebook has always been simple: to make the rules clear and unambiguous, allow few exceptions to them, and when in doubt, refer users to a standard dictionary. Beyond promoting consistency and explaining proper usage, the AP Stylebook defines terms and covers topics that you are likely to encounter in your media career, such as weather terminology, business and sports guidelines, and photo captions.