Holidays, Tech and Politics: AP Style Rules to Know
We know journalists are busy, and it can be difficult to keep up with recent AP Stylebook changes. So we’ve done the work for you, rounding up a few of the recent significant — and just plain interesting — updates to the AP Stylebook.
Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash
Things may be feeling a bit quiet as coworkers take off on holiday vacations and you mentally power down for a few well-earned days off. But the next couple weeks and months are going to be full of newsworthy events, and our team is here to help you brush up on a few timely AP style topics.
If you’re planning on covering the holidays, CES 2025 or politics, check out the reminders below to ensure you’re using the related terms accurately.
Upcoming Holidays
The year may be nearly over, but there are still several holidays on the 2024 calendar. To help you prepare for upcoming holiday coverage, here are a few reminders:
- Christmas
- The federal legal holiday is observed on Friday if Dec. 25 falls on a Saturday, on Monday if it falls on a Sunday.
- Never abbreviate Christmas to Xmas or any other form.
- Christmastime is one word.
- Capitalize Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
- Lowercase seasonal greetings (except for Christmas): Have a happy new year, wishing you a merry Christmas, happy holidays from the team.
- New Year’s
- Capitalize New Year’s, New Year’s Day, and New Year’s Eve.
- It’s New Year’s resolutions.
- Lowercase general references to the coming year: What will the new year bring?
- Hanukkah
- The Jewish Festival of Lights is an eight-day commemoration of the rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians.
- It usually occurs in December but sometimes falls in late November. This year, it will run from the evening of Dec. 25, 2024, through Jan. 2, 2025.
- A menorah (lowercase) is the seven-branch candelabrum from the ancient temple in Jerusalem.
- Kwanzaa
- This seven-day celebration based on African festivals culminates with a communal feast called Karamu.
- It takes place from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.
- Boxing Day
- This is celebrated on Dec. 26 in British Commonwealth countries. The term came from the practice of giving gift boxes to employees and others. It’s since evolved and is now a day most associated with shopping and sporting events.
CES
CES is fast approaching and will take place in Las Vegas Jan. 7-10, 2025. The wide range of consumer tech products on display means journalists covering the event will need to brush up on several tech-related terms. Here are a few helpful reminders:
- CES
- Consumer Electronics Show is the event’s old name and should not be used. CES is acceptable in all references.
- Artificial Intelligence
- Artificial intelligence comprises computer systems, software or processes that can emulate aspects of human work and cognition.
- AI is acceptable in headlines and on the second reference.
- Artificial general intelligence aims to build AI systems that can perform just as well as — or even better than — humans in a variety of tasks, including reasoning, planning and the ability to learn from experience.
- ChatGPT is an AI text chatbot released by OpenAI in late 2022.
- Generative AI is a term for AI systems capable of creating text, images, video, audio, code and other media in response to queries. Lowercase generative AI if it’s not at the beginning of a sentence or headline. AP Stylebook doesn’t use the shorthand gen AI.
- Large language models are AI systems that use advanced statistics to uncover patterns in vast troves of written texts that they can apply to generate responses. Do not abbreviate it as LLM outside technical contexts.
- Reporting on AI announcements from CES? Read the full AP Style chapter on artificial intelligence.
- Autonomous
- Autonomous vehicles can drive for all or part of a trip on public roads without the need for a human to monitor the road and surroundings. They can also be called self-driving, but the term driverless should not be used unless there is no human backup driver.
- The generic use of autopilot is lowercase.
- Augmented/Virtual Reality
- Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of an interactive three-dimensional environment.
- Augmented reality involves the projection of interactive computer-generated images into a person’s real-world surroundings.
- VR and AR are acceptable on the second reference.
- Cryptocurrency
- Cryptocurrency is a type of digital money secured via encryption technology. It enables the transfer of value online without the need for a middleman like a bank or payment processor.
- Use cryptocurrency on the first reference. The shorthand crypto is acceptable in headlines and direct quotations, as well as on the second reference to the industry.
- References to individual cryptocurrencies should use the singular form — bitcoin, ethereum, tether, litecoin.
- Use plural forms for specific quantities of cryptocurrency — 6 bitcoins, 58.7 ethers.
- Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger of cryptocurrency transactions that is maintained across a worldwide network.
- Web3 is a catchall term for the prospect of a new stage of the internet that is driven by blockchain.
- Read the full crypto breakdown from AP Stylebook.
- Fintech
- Short for financial technology, fintech loosely refers to products and services designed to let consumers and businesses conduct banking and other financial services digitally (think tech for mobile and online banking, money transfers and tools for finding loans).
- Fintech can be used on the first reference but should be defined in the story if it isn’t clear from context. Use lowercase except at the start of sentences or in the formal name of a company.
- Esports
- Write it as one word (no hyphen). It’s acceptable in all references to competitive multiplayer video gaming.
- Use alternate forms like eSports or e-sports only if part of a formal name, like an organization or arena.
- Capitalize it at the start of sentences.
- Metaverse
- The term (also one word, no hyphen) describes a proposed immersive version of the internet accessed via virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, phone apps or other devices.
Politics
As journalists prepare to cover a second Trump administration, now’s as good a time as any to brush up on a few key political terms.
- Titles
- Capitalize president only as a formal title before one or more names: President Joe Biden, former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama. Also, make sure to use the first and family names on the first reference.
- Note that president-elect is lowercase.
- The following formal titles are capitalized and abbreviated when used before a name both inside and outside quotations: Gov., Lt. Gov., Rep. and Sen.
- In stories with U.S. datelines, do not include U.S. before the titles of secretary of state or other government officials, except where necessary for clarity.
- A formal title is capitalized if used before the person’s name. But do not capitalize the qualifying word for past or future titles: former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Attorney General-designate Pam Bondi.
- Inauguration Day
- Inauguration Day is capitalized only when referring to the total collection of events that include the inauguration of a U.S. president; lowercase in other uses.
- Political Parties
- Capitalize both the name of the party and the word party if it is customarily used as part of the organization’s proper name: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party.
- Capitalize Communist, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Republican, Socialist, etc., when they refer to a specific party or its members. Lowercase these words when they refer to political philosophy.
- GOP is acceptable on the second reference to Republican or Republican Party.
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Rocky Parker is the Manager of Audience and Journalist Engagement at Cision PR Newswire. She's been with the company since 2010 and has worked with journalists and bloggers as well as PR and comms professionals. Outside of work, she can be found trying a new recipe, binging a new show, or cuddling with her pitbull, Hudson.
