As a former newspaper columnist, yes, the AP Style Manual (version whatever) WAS the “Gutenberg” to be followed.
Even in ‘writing schools’, which I am a graduate of, the AP Manual was one of those ‘must buy’ reference books for the taught courses. My mentor was a former chief editor of a Philly ‘paper, so ‘the style’ became rote.
AP = Always Propaganda
They try to hide it, but it is still there for those who are aware.
There are no Journalist allowed, only Press-titutes. (they do it for the money)
I see that they banned the term “illegal aliens”. I haven’t heard illegal aliens referred to as such in many years.
Words and language used to describe people and situations matter. Which is why the liberals at AP go to such great lengths to control the language used.
The AP, like all leftist liberals, lives in a fairy world filled with unicorns and Skittles.
The AP is about as far from reality and common sense as you can get.
Why do we have to follow white men’s grammar? Grammar and style books are racist. AP should apologize for publishing its racist style book. Tacoma writing center at University of Washington would agree.
Why do we have to follow white men’s grammar? Grammar and style books are racist. AP should apologize for publishing its racist style book. Tacoma writing center at University of Washington would agree.
Presumably, whoever composed that stylebook has graduated from J-school. One would also presume that, because of that, the composer would know that “gender” is a grammatical term, and has absolutely nothing to do with an individual’s sex, either genetically or attitudinally. But, one would presume too much, I see...
Any “economy” of delivering news by the AP cooperative has been offset by the loss of freedom and independence to report with impartiality. AP forces dependency and partiality. Equality, neutrality, justice, and fairness are sacred on the altar of the AP. I believe the AP has been the driving force to subvert the revered Fourth Estate into the Fifth Column that Goebbels would be proud of.
The AP, along with its "member” outlets is the Establishment:People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary. - Adam Smith, Wealth of NationsThe AP “wire” is a continuous virtual meeting of all major American journalism outlets. It has been going on since the middle of the Nineteenth Century. To whatever extent the interests of journalists diverge from the interest of the public, to that same extent the AP must by now be a conspiracy against the public. The AP Stylebook "sets the rules for the language of news reporting” and it is a mechanism of collusion among journalists.The interest of the public is outlined in the preamble to the Constitution, in the Declaration of Independence, and also in the first two paragraphs of of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense:
SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.Any failure of the government to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, or secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity makes great copy and is a boon to the journalist. This alone is proof positive that journalism’s interest and the public interest are not congruent. Journalism loves bad news because it interests the public; the public is “interested” in bad news precisely because the events (more or less accurately) chronicled by journalism run counter to the public interest.Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him, out of two evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others. (1776)
That would be understandable if they actually adhered to that rule, but they don't. How many times does one have to be asked about one's "gender" and given the two choices "male" and "female", which if we are to believe the ridiculous gender activists is only two-fifty-sevenths (or whatever the fashionable number has become by now) of the correct answer.
There is a 19th-century philosophical hypothesis that has grown, through the offices of modern propaganda, to the status of received truth, that language control is thought control. This first because the shapers of language like to perceive themselves as far more influential than they actually are, and second because the shapers of politics are in the same state. It is a hypothesis that has never really received sufficient re-examination, and it should. One thing we learned from the experience of the Soviet Union is that real names for real things tend to be remarkably resilient in the face of this idiot linguistic St. Vitus' Dance and that people tend to adhere to them stubbornly in the face of arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution. The Spanish Inquisition failed, after all, and so did the Soviet Inquisition and for precisely the same reasons.
It's crumbling now if the observer is candid. Transgenderism has hit the rock of biological fact and is foundering in a sea of verbiage. State mandated games of "let's pretend" turn out to be no more effective than a five-year-old's, and although a great deal more may be done with costume these days - let's face it, hormone treatments and surgery are nothing more than costume - the basic composition of the human body remains stubbornly on the male-female axis because there's more involved than costume. Pretending otherwise is demonstrably a road to depression and suicide, not happiness. And yet we are enjoined to treat the victims as happy if the AP says they are. Anyone who does not see the pure human folly of this is kidding xemself.
Are there still any “underground” newspapers? Seems like this might be what’s needed nowadays if they could establish some kind of reputation for honesty.
Even Trad Catholic sites and conservative sites are saying THEY/THEM/THEIR.
I have seen this: “Suppose your son comes home and tells you that THEY...”
Line-in-the-sand time.