Journal Entry X

Journal Entry 10: AP Style

I finally got a copy of the AP stylebook, and I came home only to realize that I did indeed have an earlier version of the same. C’est la vie. The new version is still an excellent thing to have, and it holds a wealth of information in it about writing and grammar. In fact, when a friend asked me about getting into journalism I recommended her a copy of Zinsser’s On Writing Well as well as the AP stylebook. The way I see it, if you have the two of those there isn’t much you can’t learn.

I like AP style a lot, though it might seem like a pain in the ass to others. Perhaps it is a latent degree of OCD coming out of me, but I like how well ordered it is. There is a common set of guidelines that are adhered to when creating the governing rules, which means that I only have to understand those guidelines to feel like I understand the style. I might not know the exact rules governing a specific word, but I’ll know enough to be able to check anything that could be suspect and then receive a definitive answer. One of my biggest problems with MLA style is that it attempts to create this kind of system, but fails. This leaves you knowing that MLA has an arbitrary style that it wants you to follow, but it doesn’t cover anything comprehensively, leaving you to come up with your own subjective answer.

AP style still has faults, however. It could do well to update for more regularly, the e-mail/email conundrum is perhaps the most glaring error of this kind. On this issue the AP guide is simply out of date. Then there are the agency’s traditions that are making the style more difficult to use. Italics would make the entire industry more readable, but the editors are resisting change due to heritage. This needs to change just as black and white photographs gave way to color.