By: Shawn Moynihan The AP Stylebook, the bible of copy editors and the go-to source for style questions, just got a little thicker -- and a lot more diversified.
Both the in-print and online editions of the AP Stylebook have seen some changes for the 2009 edition. The print version now includes a "Quick Reference Guide" to make it easier for users to look up common questions on topics such as abbreviations and acronyms; the difference in similar terms such as homicide, murder and manslaughter; and polls and surveys.
New additions to the print-edition Stylebook include Twitter (the entry for which notes that the social networking Web site?s messages are ?Tweets,? and the verb forms are to Twitter or to Tweet); the Middle Eastern eggplant dish baba ghanoush; ?texting? as a verb; new entries on adoption; storyline (one word); the differences between coma, minimally conscious state and vegetative state; and different types of diabetes.
Among the changes are the spelling of cesarean section (previously "caesarean" section), allowing CEO on first reference for chief executive and "mpg" for miles per gallon, and requiring first and last names of sitting U.S. presidents.
New sports listings include knuckleball, timeout and tipoff (one word, no hyphen), USGA for United States Golf Association, and water sports. The range of new business terms includes collateralized debt obligations, Libor, recession-proof, reverse auction, securitization and solvency.
The online edition now boasts audio pronunciation guides, an updated search function, and detailed information on U.S. and international companies. Its "company names" entry has been updated and expanded to include 125 major U.S. companies and 65 non-U.S. companies. The online Stylebook contains additional information, including each company's market capitalization, revenue, net income, size and business description, as provided by Capital IQ, a division of Standard and Poor's. That information will be updated online regularly, with certain statistics revised quarterly. Online subscribers will get access to this information -- which does not appear in the print edition -- at no additional charge.
The online Stylebook also is updated regularly, and allows users to customize it with their own listings, examples and local deviations from AP style. Another feature allows subscribers to submit questions on style and phrasing to "Ask the Editor." Dave Minthorn, AP?s manager for news administration, fields the queries and posts answers
here. More than 5,000 questions and answers on a wide range of writing issues are archived.
Another new element of the online Stylebook is a package of audio clips by AP's Broadcast News Center in Washington, D.C., providing the pronunciations of more than 200 names and places in the news, from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to baseball star Albert Pujols and singer/actress Beyonce. Subscribers will get access to a sampling of these audio clips at no additional charge; the complete set will be available this summer for an additional charge in a premium version. Current subscribers will receive complimentary access to the full package for the duration of their subscription.
The Stylebook, which bowed in 1953 as a stapled collection of rules totaling 60 pages, has grown to a publication of more than 400 pages. The 2009 print edition and online subscriptions are available
here.
The print edition costs $11.75 for member news organizations and college bookstores, and $18.95 retail. The prices, said AP spokesman Jack Stokes, remain the same as in 2008 in recognition of the economic conditions faced by news organizations. Stylebook Online prices also remain the same as last year, with individual subscribers paying $25 annually, and members paying $15.
Prices for Online site licenses are based on the number of users, with the price declining as the number of users increases.
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