AP Stylebook - History

History

The AP Stylebook in its modern form started in 1953. The 1953 publication focused on "where the wire set a specific style"; for nearly a quarter century it assumed its reader had a "solid grounding in language and a good reference library" and thus omitted any guidelines in those broader areas. In 1977, prompted by AP Executive News Editor Louis Boccardi's request for "more of a reference work," the organization started expanding the book. That year's book was produced jointly with competitor United Press International. In 1989, Norm Goldstein became the AP Stylebook editor, a job he held until the 2007 edition. After the publication of the final edition under his editorship, Goldstein commented on changes:

I think the difference...now is that there is more information available on the Internet, and I'm not sure, and at least our executive editor is not sure, how much of a reference book we ought to be anymore. I think some of our historical background material like on previous hurricanes and earthquakes, that kind of encyclopedic material that's so easily available on the Internet now, might be cut back.

Associated Press editors Darrell Christian, Sally Jacobsen and David Minthorn edited the 2009 edition, which features an updated listing of U.S. and international company names. This edition also included separate entries for U.S. financial institutions and major oil companies and a quick reference guide that lists the most popular entries and subject matter. Currently the most recent print editions are 2011 and 2012.

While nearly two million copies of the AP Stylebook have been distributed since 1977, today the AP Stylebook is developing an online presence with profiles on social media platforms like Twitter (@APStylebook) and Facebook.