Week 3: Media Writing Style

It is important that we stay consistent in the way we present our words and punctuation when writing for a publication like a newspaper. To remain consistent, we will follow the same  journalistic style in our writing that is used in the industry: AP (Associated Press) Style.

The AP Style is commonly accepted journalistic standards for usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation.  It is the standard style guide for most U.S. newspapers, magazines and public relations firms.

The complete AP Stylebook is lengthy and specific, but here are some of the more commonly employed rules.

Rules for Numbers:

• Spell out:
  • Whole numbers below 10
  • Numerals that start a sentence. Example: Twenty-seven detainees were released yesterday.
  • For large numbers use hyphen to connect word ending in y to another word. Example: twenty-one or seventy-six thousand
• Use figures:
  • For 10 and above.
  • For all ages and percentages (even less than 10).

Rules for Time:

• Time: a.m. vs. p.m.
  • Recognize “8 p.m. tonight” is redundant. Write 8 p.m. Monday.
  • Do not capitalize AM or PM. Example:We have to meet at 7 A.M. for pictures (no).
  • Use figures except for noon and midnight
  • Write time of day like this: 2:30 a.m. or 8:45p.m.
• Days and Dates
  • Always use numerals without st, nd, rd or th in dates.
  • Avoid using yesterday, today and tomorrow (story publication could be delayed)
  • When writing about events use months and dates. Example: “April 30” and “June 5.”
  • When referring to a month, day and year, set off year with commas. Example: 20, 1964, was the day they had all been waiting for.
• Months
  • Never abbreviate months not immediately precede a date
  • Abbreviate only if month’s name is six letters or longer Example: We got married in September last year.They were married Aug. 6 last year and divorced March 5.

Capitalization Rules

• Compositions (books, movies, music, articles)
  • Capitalize the in title if that is the way publication prefers to be known.Capitalize first and last word of title.
  • Capitalize all words four letters or longer.
  • Do not capitalize articles “a,” “an” and “the” OR conjunctions or prepositions, unless four letters or longer. Examples: The Elements of Style, Gone With the Wind, The Inquirer
    
• People
  • Capitalize formal titles before a name
  • Titles after a name or standing alone are ALMOST NEVER capitalized. Examples: I saw President Obama; Dr. Hemmert, LSU president, attended the meeting.
• College Courses
  • Do not capitalize the names of school subjects unless it is the official course titles or the name of a language: Examples: English (yes); math (no); Geometry 101 (yes).

Punctuation

• Apostrophe
  • Use an apostrophe to indicate possession in singular and plural nouns that do not end in s. (boy’s shorts, Margie’s books, Francis‘ telephone).
  • Use an apostrophe to indicate omitted letters or numbers: ’12-13 school year.
  • The possessive form of personal pronouns such as its and yours do not need an apostrophe.
• Comma
  • In a series, use them before an “and”.
  • Use one in a sentence after a conjunction IF the part of the sentence following the comma would be a complete sentence (it must have its own subject).
• Exclamation point 
  • Don’t use exclamation points. Use a period instead.
• Semicolon
  • Use the semicolon to separate phrases containing commas, statements of contrast and statements too closely related.
  • Do not use a semicolon when a period would work just as well.

Website Work Week Three:

The AP is owned by its contributing newspapers and radio and television stations in the United States, all of which contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists.

Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative. As part of their cooperative agreement with the AP, most member news organizations grant automatic permission for the AP to distribute their local news reports.

The AP employs the  inverted pyramid formula for writing that enables the news outlets to edit a story to fit its available publication area without losing the story’s essentials.

I would like you to choose a news story first reported elsewhere and report it on your class website. Create a new page on your website and write the article that reflects that you read and incorporated the information contained in this page. Please follow the parameters below.

1. Find a news story published since the start of this month.
2. Once you have read the article rewrite the story in your own words.
3. Investigate. Add any pertinent details.
4. Provide a minimum of two pictures. You should determine the subject matter of the pictures. Make sure you
   • provide a caption for each photo.
   • give credit to the source of the photo.
5. Include a minimum of three hyperlinks:
   • one hyperlink should take the reader to the original news article (remember – the article must have been published sometime this month)
   • the remaining two hyperlinks should take your reader to outside sources of either related content or content that expands upon your article.
6. Once your story is complete, please add your new page to your menu.
   • Please label the article News Article Rewrite and add it to your navigational menu . The video at the bottom of this page shows how to add and edit pages on your navigational menu.
   • The title of your article on your website should be unique and telling. (Do not provide it with the name News Article Rewrite)

Finally, please do not forget to screenshot your work and submit it on Blackboard by Sunday at 11:59 PM.

The video above shows how to add pages to your navigational menu.