Difference between revisions of "KDHX online writing style"

Revision as of 18:05, 26 July 2011

Overview

KDHX.org web properties are a volunteer produced information and entertainment outlet designed for consumption by a diverse, primarily English-speaking audience. In order to best focus on our content, our editorial guidelines define consistent and reader-friendly standards based on the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook 2011, with a few exceptions.

Plagiarism, in any form, is not acceptable. If you use more than 2 words (an original phrase) from another source, you must use quotation marks and cite the source.

Standards

KDHX Specific

• DJs not programmers.
• 314-664-3955, ext. 355
• Generally, do not capitalize “the” for program shows and bands in the middle of a sentence: Drea brings you the Other One. I love the Beatles. Same rule applies to the Riverfront Times. However, The Essential Leonard Cohen and The Beatles are great CDs.

Common Word Groups

• rock & roll
• Genres are not capitalized, with the exception of Americana, R&B, Tex-Mex, Southern rock and a handful of others. There's a reason for such exceptions. E-mail roy at kdhx dot org for clarification.
• website and email and Internet and Web and online

Proper Nouns

St. Louis (Note: Unlike many cities, St. Louis is one that can stand alone, without state abbreviation, in copy. See following list for other examples: http://wordwise.typepad.com/blog/2010/02/you-bet-djibouti-updates-to-ap-style-part-ii.html)

Geographic

When using zip code: St. Louis, MO 63130.

Dates and Times

• Times: 2 a.m. or noon or midnight
• Central standard time is CST. However, to simplify and avoid confusion about daylight saving time, all times, when targeted at a non-local audience, should be indicated with the word Central: 7 a.m. Central
• To indicate sequences or inclusive dates or times, use an en dash (or a single hyphen, with no spaces) instead of “to:” Apply here May 7-9, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Numerical dates like 1/11/10 are not technically AP Style, and should be avoided in most cases; however, given the needs of KDHX, numerical dates are acceptable in titles and other listings.
• Generally speaking, do not use “th,” “st” or “rd” with dates: January 11th, 2010 is incorrect. January 11, 2010 is correct. You may also abbreviate long months, when using the complete date: Jan. 11, 2010 is also correct.
• However, for centuries, follow this rule: Lowercase, spelling out numbers less than 10: first century, seventh century, the 19th century, the 20th century, the 21st century, etc.

Punctuation

• Unless absolutely necessary to avoid ambiguity, no comma after the final item in a series: rock, rap and soul.
• To separate sentences, use one space, not two.
• Never use the & (ampersand) unless it is officially part of a name (name of a band, book, play, etc.). Do not use ampersand in tags to KDHX.org posts.
• When making a plural noun possessive, just add an apostrophe: The books' jackets were torn. If the noun is singular but ends in an s, add 's: The bass's mouth was large. If it's a proper noun that ends in s, just add an apostrophe: St. Louis' parks are precious.

Hyperlinking

• Unless absolutely necessary, do not write out URLs in copy. Instead, use the name of the institution, company or website and link it. Incorrect: Visit filmchallenge.org for more information. Correct: Visit National Film Challenge for more information.

Numbering

• Generally, spell out numbers under 10; otherwise use figures for numbers: Apples, oranges and peaches are my three favorite fruits. I made a top 10 list for 2011. Exception for ages and statistical context see below.
• Spell out fractions less than 1 in text, using hyphens between words: two-thirds, four-fifths, seven-sixteenths. Use figures for more than 1 in text: 1 1/2, 2 3/4, 5 1/8. Preferably, convert to decimals: The average household is 2.5 individuals.
• Always spell out at the start of the sentence: Two awesome DJs spun records last night.
• Use figures for ages. KDHX is 22 years old. KDHX is a 22-year-old radio station.
• When using numerals in a statistical or "countable" context, do not spell out. Always use figures (unless at start of sentence): Currently, almost 9 percent of the U.S. is out of work. The cost of the average CD is $8. It is not surprising that 1 in 4 KDHX listeners likes the Beatles.
• Spell out million and billion, and precede with figures, up to two decimals: There were 4.35 million MP3s downloaded in 2009. However, there were approximately 7,542,000 MP3s deleted from teenagers' iTunes in 2009.

Hyphenation

• When in doubt, do not hyphenate, unless the word is a compound modifier before a noun: hip hop and hip-hop art. More examples of compound modifiers: "fast-paced action," "finely-spun cloth," "pitch-shifted vocals," "well-written essay" and "golden-haired hamster."
• Use the em dash ( -- ) when creating a parenthetical or for appositive effect. Make the dash by typing the word, then a space, then two hyphens, then a space, then the next word: I like chips -- especially potato chips.

Titling

• Song titles go in quotation marks and use standard capitalization: “The Long and Winding Road”
• Album, movie and play titles go in italics: Abbey Road, The Godfather and Hamlet. This is a common exception to AP Style, given the needs of music and arts publications.
• Titles refer to composition titles (names of plays, songs, albums, novels). For titles: All substantial nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. are capitalized. Prepositions, pronouns and conjunctions which are 4 letters or more are always capitalized: I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One by Yo La Tengo is a great album. The first and last word of a book, song, movie etc. title are always capitalized regardless of letter count: “To Be or Not to Be In” is a strange title for a song.

Headlines

• For headlines (for example, title of a blog post or a KDHX.org website article): AP headlines cap only first word, proper nouns or proper abbreviations: KDHX welcomes the Twangfest festival to St. Louis, starting June 9, 2010
• Generally speaking, when referring to bands, use the singular, unless the band is a plural name: The Rolling Stones are the greatest rock & roll band in the world. Devo is a deconstructive, new wave band.

Notes on Use of Software

• Turn off smart quotes or curly quotes in Microsoft Word. These are the bane of web publishing. Look under Tools > Autocorrect or do a search in Word Help for how to turn them off.
• Be very careful when pasting from a Google or Word doc into an online text editor. Use plain text to paste in!