Valley PR Blog

To AP or not to AP

By Charlotte Shaff on July 28th, 2008 In Writing

When I started out in PR, I had no clue what AP Style was or meant. I went to school for Broadcasting and Cinematic Arts and the majority of my classes were in production, ad copywriting and critique at Central Michigan University. I never took a Journalism class because I was planning on being a TV Promotion Director someday. Not one time was AP Style brought up as I looked for jobs. My career stemmed from television promotion writing and producing, along with some work at an advertising agency working in promotion. For years, I wrote very short, to the point news topical teases and promotions. And when I started my biz, I’d write releases and pitch stories using the skills and knowlege from those experiences to get the attention of the media. My mission…what was teasable, beneficial to the audience and interesting.

AP Style never crossed my mind, nor did it really come up in conversations with others in the industry until about a year ago. I had worked on a client’s event with their national distributor’s PR person and she told me about an AP Style class she taught PR students. I was intrigued and then worried that maybe I was sending out releases that were making journalists cringe and laugh in horror.  Was it really a big deal to send out pitches or releases that weren’t written in AP Style?  

A few weeks ago at our PR Indies lunch, we went around the table offering a tip to the others about working in PR. My ears perked up when one woman said we should not just write our releases AP Style, but also our pitches. When it came to my turn to give a tip, I said “Read the Valley PR Blog” and also said I was very interested in blogging about AP Style and had just earlier asked a few editors in town their thoughts on AP Style and they all had a general consensus that if the story is good, they don’t care if it came to them AP Style or not. This sparked some conversation around the table and that solidified my thoughts that this would be a great thing to blog about.

So, what do some local journalists have to say about AP Style and PR? Do they really care if we present them with an AP perfect pitch and release? Do we have a better chance of getting our information from a press release printed if its written in AP Style?  Well, I sent some survey questions to some local media and many of them were happy to offer their opinions.

Out of the twelve who responded, eight said they write AP Style. No one said they cared if a pitch was AP Style. Only one out of twelve said they cared if a release was written in AP Style. When I asked what they would do if they got a release that wasn’t written in AP Style, no one said they’d delete it or be upset about it, they just cared if it was a good story or not.

The main consensus from their comments was that it really boils down to giving them clear, full, to the point information. Most have to fact check and rewrite the story anyway, so as long as there are not glaring errors, missing information or typos, they will accept the story idea or release.

I think that the survey really boils down to this. You’ll get respect from providing the media what they need, and writing in AP Style is just icing on the cake. Should I brush up on my AP skills? Yes. But I think the main point of my job is to offer that reporter something that they will find of interest and relevance that is geared toward their audience.

For complete results and commentary, click here.

Share This

Hide Sites

Want Your Picture Icon? Go to gravatar.com and set a picture up to your email address for free. It also works on thousands of other websites, too!