A Lesson on AP Style

April 27, 2026

If you work in the communications industry, it means you live and breathe AP style guidelines —to the point where you’re silently correcting a friend’s text message or other forms of writing when it goes against AP rules. But for those unfamiliar, AP style refers to the writing and editing standards set by the Associated Press Stylebook — the gold standard guide used by journalists, newsrooms and communications professionals alike. And for the uninitiated, writing in AP style is sort of like learning a new language; remembering its quirks, complexities and staying consistent with its guidelines is a whole job in itself.

Understanding these guidelines makes a meaningful difference in how your story is received, and ultimately, if it gets covered. We’ve just about seen it all, so we’re breaking down common mistakes and easily overlooked rules to help you get it right.

1. Sometimes, you don’t necessarily take the short cut.

We’re all aware of these common acronyms and their meanings: FBI, CDC, KFC, DoD, USPS and many more that we frequently refer to in their shortened form rather than spelling them out. These abbreviations are AP style friendly — they go without explanation when we read them and are easily recognizable. Essentially, when writing it out in a press release, you can avoid this: “The Federal Bureau Institute (FBI).”

However, what AP style discourages is turning acronyms into alphabet soup. When a business or organization’s name can be abbreviated, it is only useful when the abbreviation is a handy reference to the full name when reading an article. If you read the article and can no longer remember what the abbreviation stands for, it’s better to opt out and use the full name.

Let’s break it down:

Yes: Hudson Valley Credit Union (HVCU)

No: International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP)

2. Get to know your datelines.

When it comes to mentioning states in the body of press releases, AP style requires that all 50 states are fully spelled out within press materials. However, datelines, the opening line of a press release that signals where and when the news is originating from, are as wonky as it gets when it comes to sharing a location. States with five letters or less, specifically, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah, as well as the two states that are not part of the mainland, Alaska and Hawaii, are never abbreviated and should always be spelled out. The remaining states are shortened, with what feels like little to no rhyme or reason. For instance, Connecticut becomes Conn., Louisiana to La. and New York to N.Y. By the way, with all these shrunken versions, periods are included. Linked here, you can find the whole list of states with their correctly formatted abbreviations. I, personally, would keep this bookmarked to circle back to later!

3. Use italics for emphasis, not for publications.

This one may come as a shock to you, as it’s a common misconception. The AP Stylebook’s rule is that names of publications are simply capitalized. That’s it. No italics or quotes, just basic capitalized letters. Italics aren’t an AP style practice, rather it’s only used to emphasize a word within text. Quotations are used when referring to songs, movies, books (that aren’t The Bible), plays, poems and more.

4. Dig into your PR pantry.

References to basic food names proceed as normal, meaning there are no special ways needed to refer to everyday food items like cake, cereal, milk or bananas. However, proceed with caution when the food item is a proper noun, because you must capitalize the proper noun. For example, French bread, bananas Foster, Brussel sprouts and Italian dressing all specify a specific place, person or organization, therefore you capitalize them in PR writing. My advice? Start learning about the history of food to ensure you serve up proper AP style in your writing.

 5. Know your dashes.

Do you know when to use an em dash (—), the hyphen (-) or the en dash (–)? Unfortunately, ChatGPT has changed the public’s perception of the em dash to be a clear indicator of its presence. This crisis, which for some, ranks as high as the chaos and devastation over the Oxford comma, has caused writers and PR professionals alike to question whether or not they should continue to use this grammatical tool.

The em dash is used for — emphasis — within a sentence, a break in a thought or to insert parenthetical phrase. And yes, you always add a space before and after the use of an em dash. Hyphens, on the other hand, modify a noun by joining words to make a single idea. For example, three-hour class, five-star hotel or full-time job. En dashes get the short end of the stick as AP style does not utilize them — how unfortunate!

When in doubt, crack open your AP Style manual; or if you’re like me, keep it bookmarked. Consistently applying AP style helps build credibility, professionalism and clarity – all things journalists expect and value in the materials they receive.

This piece was authored by Impact PR & Communications’ Associate Account Executive, Paige Duffany.