New Spanish-Language Stylebook From NAHJ

By: E&P Staff The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) plans to release its first Spanish-language stylebook for U.S.-based media organizations.

Funded by Knight Ridder, the stylebook will be introduced in February on a six-city tour along with a traveling workshop by its chief editor, Alberto Gomez Font, a philologist and copy editor with the Efe news agency in Madrid.

The "Manual de Estilo" is a guide on grammar, the proper use of abbreviations and titles, and other style questions for news reporting done in Spanish. The 10-chapter guide also covers intonation and pronunciation on the air, plus tips for translating financial and government terms from English.

In a statement, NAHJ added that the stylebook advises journalists to prevent "Spanglish from creeping into their work and stay away from words that may take on different -- and sometimes obscene -- meanings as vocabularies from a myriad of Latin American countries are forced to come together in the U.S."

NAHJ said it is boosting its efforts to provide professional development for journalists who work primarily in Spanish. The group's next regional Spanish-language conference will be held at Florida International University in Miami on Feb. 7. For details, visit www.region4nahj.org.

For more information about the stylebook and workshops in Chicago; New York; Berkeley, Calif.; Dallas/Fort Worth; Miami and Los Angeles, visit NAHJ.org.