AP Style group 2
datelines within stories
In citing other cities within the body of a story, use the following guidelines. No further information is necessary if a city is in the same state as the datelined city. Make an exception only if confusion would result. Follow the city name with further identification in most cases where it is not in the same state or nation as the dateline city. The additional identification may be omitted, however, if no confusion would result. There is no need, for example, to refer to "Boston, Mass." in a story datelined NEW YORK. Provide a state or nation identification for the city if the story has no dateline. However, cities may be used alone in undated stories if no confusion would result.
daylight saving time
Not savings no hyphen When linking the term with the name of a timezone use only the word daylight: Eastern Daylight Time Lowercase daylight saving time in all uses and daylight whenever it stands alone A federal law specifies that daylight time applies from 2.am. on the second sunday of march until 2a.m. on the first sunday of november in areas that do not specifically exempt themselves
highway designations
Use these forms, as appropriate in the context, for highways identified by number. For example, U.S. Highway 1 U.S. Route 1 U.S. 1 state Route 34 Route 34 Interstate Highway 495 Interstate 495 On second reference only for "Interstate," I-495. When a letter is appended to a number, capitalize it but do not use a hyphen. For example, Route 1A
Timezones
AP Style states to capitalize the full name of the time in force within a particular zone. For example, Eastern Standard Time Eastern Daylight Time Central Standard Time Lowercase all but the region in short forms. For example, the Eastern time zone Eastern time Mountain time Spell out "time zone" in references not accompanied by a clock reading. For example, Chicago is in the Central time zone. The abbreviations EST, CDT, etc., are acceptable on first reference for zones used within the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico only if the abbreviation is linked with a clock reading. For example, noon EST 9 a.m. PST Do not set off the abbreviations with commas. Spell out all references to time zones not used within the contiguous United States. For example, When it is noon EDT, it is 1 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time and 8 a.m. Alaska Standard Time. There is one exception to the spelled-out form. Greenwich Mean Time may be abbreviated as GMT on second reference if used with a clock reading.
times
Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 9-11 a.m., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the construction 4 o'clock is acceptable but time listings with a.m. and p.m. are preferred
directions and regions
In general, lowercase north, south, northeast, northern, and other compass directions: My dad drove west. The cold front is moving east. Capitalize these words when they indicate regions: A storm is moving through the Midwest and will bring snow to the Northeast late in the day. With names of nations lowercase unless they are part of a proper name or are used to designate a politically divided nation with states and cities the preferred form is lowercase directional or area descriptions but capitalize compass points -when part of a proper name -when used in denoting widely known sections: Southern California, West Texas, the South Side of Chicago, the Lower East Side of New York In forming proper names when combining with another common noun to form the name for a region or location
addresses
Only abbreviate Avenue, Boulevard, and Street ever but do not abbreviate them when just listing the street name for example: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. or Pennsylvania Avenue Lowercase and spell out when used alone or with more than one street name Always capitalized when part of an address or street name Always use figures for an address: 9 Morningside Circle Spell out and capitalize First through Ninth when used as street names: 7 Fifth Ave., 100 21st St. Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street or quandrants of a city in a numbered address: 222 E. 42nd Street No period in between quadrant abbreviations: NW, SE Do not abbreviate if the number is omitted: East 42nd St.
state names
STANDING ALONE: Spell out the names of the 50 U.S. states when they stand alone in textual material. Any state name may be condensed, however, to fit typographical requirements for tabular material. EIGHT NOT ABBREVIATED: The names of eight states are never abbreviated in datelines or text: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. Memory Aid: Spell out the names of the two states that are not part of the contiguous United States and of the continental states that are five letters or fewer. ABBREVIATIONS REQUIRED: Use the state abbreviations listed at the end of this section: --In conjunction with the name of a city, town, village or military base in text. See examples in Punctuation section below. See datelines for guidelines on when a city name may stand alone in the body of a story. --In short-form listings of party affiliation: D-Ala., R-Mont. See party affiliation entry for details. Following are the state abbreviations, which also appear in the entries for each state (ZIP code abbreviations in parentheses): Ala. (AL) Ariz. (AZ) Ark. (AR) Calif. (CA) Colo. (CO) Conn. (CT) Del. (DE) Fla. (FL) Ga. (GA) Ill. (IL) Ind. (IN) Kan. (KS) Ky. (KY) La. (LA) Md. (MD) Mass. (MA) Mich. (MI) Minn. (MN) Miss. (MS) Mo. (MO) Mont. (MT) Neb. (NE) Nev. (NV) N.H. (NH) N.J. (NJ) N.M. (NM) N.Y. (NY) N.C. (NC) N.D. (ND) Okla. (OK) Ore. (OR) Pa. (PA) R.I. (RI) S.C. (SC) S.D. (SD) Tenn. (TN) Vt. (VT) Va. (VA) Wash. (WA) W.Va. (WV) Wis. (WI) Wyo (WY) (These are the ZIP code abbreviations for the eight states that are not abbreviated in datelines or text: AK (Alaska), HI (Hawaii), ID (Idaho), IA (Iowa), ME (Maine), OH (Ohio), TX (Texas), UT (Utah). Also: District of Columbia (DC). Use the two-letter Postal Service abbreviations only with full addresses, including ZIP code. PUNCTUATION: Plase one comma between the city and the state name, and another comma after the state name, unless ending a sentence or indicating a dateline: He was traveling from Nashville, Tenn., to Austin, Texas, en route to his home in Albuquerque, N.M. She said Cook County, Ill., was Mayor Daley's stronghold. MISCELLANEOUS: Use New York state when necessary to distinguish the state from New York City. Use state of Washington or Washington state when necessary to distinguish the state from the District of Columbia. (Washington State is the name of a university in the state of Washington.)
domestic datelines
Some cities are so widely known that they are capable of standing alone in a dateline, without the name of a state for additional reference. A list of domestic cities that stand alone in datelines follows. The norms that influenced the selection were the population of the city, the population of its metropolitan region, the frequency of the city's appearance in the news, the uniqueness of its name, and experience that has shown the name to be almost synonymous with the state of nation where it is located. ATLANTA BALTIMORE BOSTON CHICAGO CINCINNATI CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DETROIT HONOLULU HOUSTON INDIANAPOLIS LAS VEGAS LOS ANGELES MIAMI MILWAUKEE MINNEAPOLIS NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK OKLAHOMA CITY PHILADELPHIA PHOENIX PITTSBURGH ST. LOUIS SALT LAKE CITY SAN ANTONIO SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE WASHINGTON Stories from all other U.S. cities should have both the city and state name in the dateline, including KANSAS CITY, Mo., and KANSAS CITY, Kan. For example, ANN ARBOR, Mich. SACRAMENTO, Calif. You should always spell out Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah. Abbreviate all other states as they are listed on our AP Style State Abbreviations page. Use "Hawaii" on all cities outside Honolulu. Specify the island in the text if needed. Follow this same practice for communities on islands within the boundaries of other states. For example, EDGARTOWN, Mass. -Not- EDGARTOWN, Martha's Vineyard. Use "BEVERLY HILLS, Calif." It's an incorporated city and the dateline for the Golden Globes movie awards, sponsored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Regional Circuits On state wires, additional cities in a state or region may stand alone if requested by the newspapers served. U.S. Possessions Apply the guidelines listed below in the Island Nations and Territories section and the Overseas Territories section.
International datelines
These international locations stand alone in datelines, AMSTERDAM BAGHDAD BANGKOK BEIJING BEIRUT BERLIN BRUSSELS CAIRO DJIBOUTI DUBLIN GENEVA GIBRALTAR GUATEMALA CITY HAVANA HELSINKI HONG KONG ISLAMABAD MEXICO CITY MILAN MONACO MONTREAL MOSCOW MUNICH NEW DELHI PANAMA CITY PARIS PRAGUE QUEBEC CITY RIO DE JANEIRO ROME SAN MARINO SAO PAULO SHANGHAI SINGAPORE ISTANBUL JERUSALEM JOHANNESBURG KUWAIT CITY LONDON LUXEMBOURG MACAU MADRID STOCKHOLM SYDNEY TOKYO TORONTO VATICAN CITY VIENNA ZURICH In addition, use UNITED NATIONS alone, without a N.Y. designation, in stories from U.N. headquarters. Balkans With the independence of Montenegro from Serbia-Montenegro formalized in 2006, use a Montenegro-only dateline, such as "PODGORICA, Montenegro." Stories originating in Serbia carry a Serbia-only dateline, "BELIGRADE, Serbia." With the independence of Kosovo in 2008, use Kosovo in the dateline, such as "PRISTINA, Kosovo." Canadian Datelines Datelines on stories from Canadian cities other than Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto should contain the name of the city in capital letters followed by the name of the province. Do not abbreviate any province or territory name. Commonwealth of Independent States For cities in the former Soviet Union, datelines include city and republic name: "ALMATY, Kazakhstan." Other Nations Stories from other international cities that do not stand alone in datelines should contain the name of the country or territory (see the next section) spelled out. Spelling and Choice of Names In most cases, the name of the nation in a dateline is the conventionally accepted short form of its official name. For example, "Argentina" for the "Republic of Argentina." (If in doubt, look for an entry in this book. If none is found, follow Webster's New World College Dictionary.) Note the following special cases, Instead of "United Kingdom," use England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales. For divided nations, use the commonly accepted names based on geographic distinctions: North Korea, South Korea. Use an article only with El Salvador. For all others, use just a country name: Gambia, Netherlands, Philippines, etc. See geographic names page for guidelines on spelling the names of international cities and nations not listed here or in separate entries. Island Nations and Territories When reporting from nations and territories that are made up primarily of islands but commonly are linked under one name, use the city name and the general name in the dateline. Indentify an individual island, if needed, in the text. For example, British Virgin Islands Netherlands Antilles Indonesia Philippines Overseas Territories Some overseas territories, colonies, and other areas that are not independent nations commonly have accepted separate identities based on their geographic character or special status under treaties. In these cases, use the commonly accepted territory name after a city name in a dateline. For example, Bermuda Corsica Faeroe Islands Greenland Guadeloupe Guam Martinique Puerto Rico Sardinia Sicily Sikkim Tibet
time of day
When to Specify the Time of Day You should specify the time of day in AP Style whenever it gives the reader a better image of the scene that took place. For instance, did the tornado occur when people were home sleeping or away at work? It is acceptable to use a clock reading for the time in the datelined community, but AP Style states that using the terms "pre dawn hours" or "rush hour" are often more illustrative and beneficial to the reader. You should also always specify the time of day when it is critical to the story. For instance, when will the baseball game be broadcast? What time is kickoff for the Super Bowl. When do the voting polls close? What Clock Time Do I Use? When you are giving a clock reading, you should use the time in the datelined community. If the story is undated, you should use the clock time in effect where the event happened or will happen. The one exception to this rule is a national event that happens either on radio or television. In this case, you should always use Eastern time, followed by EDT or EST. You then should specify whether the event will be broadcast simultaneously or whether the times will vary dependent on the different time zones. As it is practical to do so, specify those times in a later paragraph. Time Zone Abbreviations AP Style states that the time zone abbreviations EST, CDT, PST, etc., should only be used after a clock time if, The story deals with travel or other activities, the closing hour of a polling station, or the time of a televised speech likely to affect groups across different time zones. The item involves a radio or television program. The item is undated. The item is advisory to editors. Should I Convert to Eastern Time? You should not convert the time of day from other time zones in the continental United States to Eastern time. If there is a high demand for the precise time, you can add PST, MDT, etc., to the local reading and other readers can from there determine their equivalent local time of day. For stories outside of the continental United States where time is critical in the story, you should provide a conversion to Eastern time using the following form, The attack happened at 10 a.m. (5 a.m. EDT).
