The Associated Press Stylebook 2009 (Associated Press Stylebook & Briefing on Media Law)

The style of the Associated Press is the gold standard of news writing. With The AP Stylebook in hand, you can learn to write with the clarity and professionalism for which the Associated Press is 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. New entries include anti-spyware, high-definition, iPhone, outsourcing, podcast, text messaging, social networking, snail mail, WMD and Wikipedia.

You’ll also find answers to such widespread questions as:

How should bankruptcy and mergers and acquisitions be covered?
When should the names of government bodies or businesses 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?
What constitutes “fair use”?
How should box scores for baseball games be filed, and how should sports terms like minicamp and wild card be used
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.