Love ‘em or hate ‘em, AP’s style changes march forward. As always, they reflect real-life trends in language usage, the world’s changing mores, and new additions to our vocabulary, like UAP and X. 

Earlier this year, the editors at the Associated Press Stylebook revealed the latest updates to their guide, included in the 57th edition of the Stylebook (and incorporated into the AP Stylebook online). If you missed our April email newsletter on this topic — first, sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of our Contact Us page! — keep reading. We’ll catch you up.

X

• Use the social platform X on first reference.
• Limit the use of the verbs tweet and tweeted other than in direct quotations; instead, say posted on X or said in a post on X.

Note: This represents a change in AP’s stance. Just last fall, they recommended using X, formerly known as Twitter and allowing tweet as both a verb and noun.

Climate change, climate crisis

• These terms can be used interchangeably in broad reference to the general state of the climate.
• However, lean toward using climate change to reference long-term shifts in weather patterns and climate crisis when describing the current situation.

Note: This is also a change from last fall, when AP recommended avoiding climate crisis and climate emergency unless used by a quoted source.

Native Americans, Indigenous people/peoples

• When referring to an individual or citizen of a single tribe, specify the proper name of the tribe and the person’s connection to the tribe.
• When referring to two or more people of different tribal affiliations, use the term Native Americans; the term American Indians is generally considered outdated.
• The term Indigenous peoples may also be appropriate in some contexts, especially when generalizing across geographies (e.g., Indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada).

Note: AP’s full entry contains additional, more nuanced guidance; check it out to learn more.

Homeless, homelessness

• Mention a person is homeless only when relevant; if a homeless person is accused of a crime, for example, mention their city of residence, the same way you would for anyone else.
• Use unhoused only in a direct quotation.
• Avoid the homeless and the unhoused.

Obesity, obese, overweight

• When relevant, use the term people with obesity or a person with obesity; avoid obese as a modifier.
• When an individual or group prefers it, allow the use of fat, fatness, plus-sized, people of higher weights, and other terms. In such cases, note that this is the preference of that person or group.
• Avoid using obese and overweight interchangeably; they have distinct medical definitions.

Note: AP’s full entry contains additional, more nuanced guidance; check it out to learn more.

Quotations

• Generally, use the verb said (e.g., She said the dog was fuzzy).
• Avoid claimed, admitted, and conceded, which can sound loaded or judgmental.
• Also avoid verbs such as believes, hopes, and fears unless using this construction: He said he hopes that the dog would not be fuzzy.

Suicide

• Avoid the phrase committed suicide.
• Alternative phrases include killed himself, took her own life, or died by suicide.

Note: As a news organization, AP has chosen to not cover suicide or suicide attempts, unless the person is well known or the circumstances are unusual or disruptive.

Crisis hotlines

• In stories about suicide, assault, domestic violence, mental illness, substance misuse, and other topics, AP may include an editor’s note with details about relevant crisis hotlines. These notes generally should be placed within the first five paragraphs. Here’s an example:

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes a discussion of sexual violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call 1-800-656-4673 in the U.S.

Note: Although AP’s advice is technically for news stories, we think it’s worth considering whether your organization may want to adopt a policy like this if you write about sensitive topics.  

Gender, sex, and sexual orientation

• The term bisexual can be used to describe attraction to both male and female, as well as to a spectrum of genders.
• Use the terms openly or out only when relevant; consider asking your subject which term they prefer, and note that out is gaining some preference over openly.

Note: AP also advises mentioning someone’s sex or gender only when it’s important to the story. This aligns with their guidance on mentioning an individual’s race: “Include racial or ethnic details only when they are clearly relevant and that relevance is explicit in the story.”

Designated days, weeks, months

• Cap all the words of a designated event: Black History Month, World Religion Day.
• Lowercase related time periods: Memorial Day weekend, Christmas week.

UFO, UAP

• Use UFO on first reference.
• As needed, explain later in the story that the U.S. government now calls them UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena).

Note: In our book, calling a weird object flying in the sky an “anomalous phenomenon” is just … jargon. But that’s a topic for another day.

Bulleted lists

• When lists contain full sentences, add a period to the end of each item.
• When lists are short (e.g., kittens, guinea pigs, rabbits), skip the periods.

Unique

• Use unique to mean one of a kind — or in a more modern and colloquial sense, to mean highly unusual, extraordinary, or rare.

Note: A bold move, AP. We salute you.

And one final note: Dragonfly doesn’t necessarily endorse all of AP’s decisions. We simply follow them to the letter when our customers use AP style.