​​The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2011 [Paperback]

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(from the publisher) The style of the Associated Press is the gold standard for news writing. With The AP Stylebook in hand, you can learn how to write and edit with the clarity and professionalism for which they are famous. Fully revised and updated, this new edition contains more than 3,000 A to Z entries—including more than 200 new ones—detailing the AP’s rules on grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation, and word and numeral usage. You’ll find answers to such wide-ranging questions as:
 
·        When should the names of government bodies be spelled out and when should they be abbreviated?
·        What are the general definitions of the major religious movements?
·        Which companies do the big media conglomerates own?
·        Who are all the members of the British Commonwealth?
·        How should box scores for baseball games be filed?
·        What constitutes “fair use”?
·        What exactly does the Freedom of Information Act cover?
 
With invaluable additional sections on the unique guidelines for business and sports reporting and on how you can guard against libel and copyright infringement, The AP Stylebook is the one reference that all writers, editors, and students cannot afford to be without. 

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(from Michael) Besides accuracy, the main reason to use this book is to achieve consistency. Some rules are arbitrary, so if you follow the rules you won’t end up with “homemade” on one page and “home-made” on another.
 

Don’t consider the AP book as something to be kept on a shelf until you need to check on a specific word. Spend a day or a week or a weekend with it. Read it cover-to-cover, flip through it or just stick your finger between two random pages. I promise you’ll be enlightened and maybe even entertained. This is a reference book you can read for fun!

My cousin Dave and I have endured and enjoyed a long-term battle about his sloppy Gen-X buddies saying “jive” instead of “jibe.” I checked the entry for “jibe,” expecting to find a warning about “jive.” There was no warning, but Dave and I did learn a new word, “gibe,” to add to the confusion.

I also learned the differences between “flyer” and “flier” and  “flak” and “flack.” One big surprise is that “B.C.” goes after the year number, but “A.D.” goes before.  Yeah, right.

There’s also a lot of info on media law—to help you get needed information and avoid being sued.

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$12.49, order from Amazon.com

$12.49, order from Barnes & Noble

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