We’re all abuzz here — and this tells you something about the exciting lives we live at the G-T — about the Associated Press’ decision, announced today, to change its official style from “Web site” to “website.”
Back, long ago, when I was in journalism school, I remember a teacher referring to the AP Stylebook as “The New Testament.” (The Old Testament in journalism? Webster’s New World.)
So I don’t know if I’m ready for a world in which the AP announces style changes through Twitter. I much prefer something more formal — maybe puffs of white smoke from the roof of AP headquarters in New York.
I’m not particularly happy with this style change, either: I still think there are valid reasons to use “Web site,” and those reasons have not changed.
On the other hand, there was good n
ews on the AP style front today: AP said it was reconsidering another foolhardy proposal, to spell out (as opposed to abbreviating) all state names on every reference — a switch which presumably would have plunged headline writers throughout Massachusetts into despair.
In the meantime, real journalists spent real time on Friday debating the pros and cons of the “website” switch. Click here, for example, for a post on the subject from the Poynter Institute.
One final note on AP style: For my money, the greatest Twitter account in all of creation is the “Fake AP Stylebook,” a laugh-out-loud (and occasionally vulgar) parody of the real AP Stylebook — still, as far as I’m concerned, the New Testament. Check out the parody by clicking here.
