Press Release Envy

What fun someone must have had, writing the press release for the updated AP Stylebook: 

06/11/2009

AP Press Release 

New edition of AP Stylebook adds entries and helpful features

NEW YORK -- Twitter, the social networking tool that has turned millions of people around the world into instant micro-bloggers, has made it into the 2009 edition of The Associated Press Stylebook, along with complicated business terms such as credit default swaps and derivatives that have gained more exposure amid the global recession.

The new edition of the Stylebook adds a "Quick Reference Guide" to make it easier for users to answer the most common questions on topics such as abbreviations and acronyms; homicide, murder and manslaughter; and polls and surveys.

Twitter, the Middle Eastern eggplant dish baba ghanoush and texting as a verb are among more than 60 new or updated entries in the new AP Stylebook, which includes more business, food, medical and Arabic terms and expanded information on major U.S. and international companies.

The range of new business terms also includes collateralized debt obligations, Libor, recession-proof, reverse auction, securitization and solvency.

The subscription-based AP Stylebook Online also has been improved, with audio pronunciation guides for newsmakers, an updated search function and detailed information on U.S. and international companies. The Online version is updated throughout the year and allows users to customize with their own listings, examples and local deviations from AP style.

Updates and additions in the AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, the standard reference tool in newsrooms and many professional offices across the country, reflect changes in word usages and in society.

There are new entries on adoption; storyline; the differences between coma, minimally conscious state and vegetative state; and different types of diabetes. The verb form of text, texted and texting has been added to the Stylebook.

The new entry for Twitter notes that the social networking Web site limits messages to short Tweets. The verb forms are to Twitter or to Tweet. Besides baba ghanoush, the new food entries include chipotle, Key lime and Parmesan.

New sports listings include knuckleball, timeout, tipoff, USGA for United States Golf Association, and water sports.

There also are more Arabic transliterations and terms, including Al-Quds, hajj, hijab and kaffiyeh.

Changes include the spelling of cesarean section, instead of 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.

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