ABBREVIATIONS

Our Policy: It is acceptable to use all-cap abbreviations on second reference IF they are familiar to folks. For example: (“The American Medical Association is asking doctors to remove tonsils for a $1.50 fee. The AMA made the statement...”)

However, if it is a less-than-widely known group, try to paraphrase the name. For example: (“The Movement For Less Rodent Hair in Hot Dogs ate a mouse to prove their point. The group is known for its radical behavior.”) Not: (“MFLRH is known for its radical behavior.”)

ALL-CAPS abbreviations - use periods between letters ONLY if the letters unintentionally spell a word (DARE is OK without periods, MADD is OK without periods; but L.A. needs them and U.N.C.L.E. needs them ... AIDS should have them, because it unintentionally spells a word, but we screwed up years ago and it's universally spelled without periods anyway)

Quotes – AP style is “to follow basic writing style in quotes and use abbreviations where appropriate.” Examples: “He said to look at Montgomery, Ala. (not Alabama).” “The team is No. 1” (not number one). “We lived at 201 Western Ave.” (not Avenue).

ACCEPTABLE ABBREVIATIONS/HEADLINES AND CITIES

The entire city name, not an abbreviation, is preferred for the all-caps LEDE-IN on a SUMGRAF. NEVER use a two-letter abbreviation for the lead-in (so, do not use RB as a lead-in, for example). A three-letter city abbreviation is acceptable: so you can use RHE, PVE in a squeeze.

Consolidation style: This is a little inconsistent with local style, but on wire pages...use the periods in a city or state name: N.Y.C., N.D., etc. (In general, these are best reserveed for one-column, tight heds.)

In CAPTIONS, do not use ciy abbreviations. (L.A. is OK in a squeeze.)

Abbreviation acceptable for headlines:

West L.A.

L.A., L.A. County

LB – for use in Press-Telegram. Avoid in sumgrafs. Try to avoid using in Breeze

MB or Manhattan

PVP for entire Peninsula region, but try to make this rare

RPV (Rancho Palos Verdes)

RH (Rolling Hills)

S.F. (San Francisco)

SP (never “Pedro” in straight news – it can be OK for columns)

T.I. for Terminal Island, but make it rare

In sumgrafs, U.S. is to be used as an adjective and a noun. Using U.S. as a noun is an exception to style calling for sumgrafs to read like sentences.

2) Abbreviations acceptable in a squeeze (generally, 18p9 or less):

Culver (never CC)

D.C. for Washington, D.C. – but make it rare

Gateway for Harbor Gateway (caution: not allowed if it might be confused with computer seller)

L.B. for Long Beach

N.Y.C .(New York City)

Marina

Playa (never PDR)

Numbers: $10M, $10B for millions and billions. But don't use K, T, etc.

3) NO ABBREVIATIONS accepted:

Baldwin Hills

El Segundo

Mar Vista

South Bay

Abbreviations/what takes periods: generally, abbreviations that could be construed as spellinga word take periods

D.A. (district attorney)

D.C. (Washington) -- (to distinguish from DC direct current

L.A.

T.I. (Terminal Island)

U.N. (as per AP stylebook)

Abbreviations/heads, slang

Acceptable:

condo

cops (police or police officers is preferred, however, except for informal copy such as columns).

exec

fax

Fed (for Federal Reserve ONLY; for federal govt use U.S. or feds)

hike (for increase -- use only when you're in a squeeze)

HQ, but only if desperate

info

kids (use caution due to featurish tone this implies)

mom & dad (again, use caution)

phone

pot

Prop. 13 (but not “prop.” when there's no specific proposition being written about)

rip, rap, blast (as in criticize -- emergency use only)

telecom (in fact, do not use telecommunications in full)

Unacceptable:

COO, CFO

coed (in reference to women)

coke (use cocaine or drug)

ABORTION, “pro-choice” and “pro-life” - Hard-news copy: Do not use “pro-choice” or “pro-life” - both are products of public relations campaigns and are not necessarily the clearest or fairest terms. Instead it's …

Instead of pro-choice - abortion-rights advocates/supporters/demonstrators; supporters of legal abortion

Instead of pro-life - opponents of abortion; anti-abortionists, anti-abortion advocates/supporters/demonstrators.

In quotes, letters to the editor, and in opinion or other columns the terms pro-choice and pro-life are acceptable because they reflect the opinions of the writers in formats where opinion is clearly labeled.

“Protesters” note - Best not to use “protesters” with either phrase as it can sound like a double negative and so can be confusing (example: is an “abortion-rights protester” protesting against abortion rights or protesting for abortion rights?).

"partial birth abortion” - (use quote marks on first reference); use only as quoted matter; it's OK on its own in a column.

Abu Ghraib

Academic Decathlon http://www.usad.org/

Academy Awards (and other awards) - See AP Stylebook, but for individual awards say best actor, best screenplay, etc. (all lower case)

Accent marks – see TILDES

AccuWeather Inc.

ACT UP/L.A. - Acronym for AIDS COALITION TO UNLEASH POWER; but ACT UP should be used on first and all references in news story. In feature story it is advisable to try to work in the full name somewhere along the way.

ADDRESSES

5200 block of West Torrance Boulevard (note: “West” is uppercase as it's part of the proper street name and “Boulevard” is spelled out as there's no specific address)

Do NOT use specific addresses of private residences where a crime was committed or where a fire or other notable incident occurred; use 1400 block of Slim Street instead. Reasons are: 1) police are known to get addresses wrong, 2) the house could be targeted for other crimes, 3) discourages gawkers.

In ascribing towns of residence to people, don't use commas when you use “of”. Example: “Jack Smith of Los Angeles is a twit.” Do use commas if there is no “of”: “Jack Smith, Los Angeles, is a twit.”

Addresses with numbered streets have the street name spelled out for First through Ninth; streets 10 or more are numerals. Example: 1445 Third St.; 1674 11th St.

STATE

STATE (datelines, in copy, party affiliations): pls abbreviate states in the longer style (Calif.) listed in AP stylebook for datelines, following city names in copy, for party affiliations (for example: D-Calif.). Do NOT use this style for mailing addresses

STATE (mailing addresses): ALL addresses, including local cities, must include the state designation (ie 5215 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503-4077 -- the CA cannot be left out). Post office technology relies on the 2-letter abbreviations for states (CA, etc.). Use commas this way: Daily Breeze, 5215 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503-4077 (note no comma between state and ZIP).

Web sites (see Internet and the Internet section of the AP Stylebook))

adjacent to

Advanced Placement exam

adviser (not advisor)

The Aerospace Corp. – but never just Aerospace (it can’t stand alone like Boeing)

Afghan (Afghani is the country's currency)

African-American/black (see Races entry)

Africanized killer bees

-aged, use only when referring to middle-aged person; otherwise, teen-ager, etc.

ages (see numerals for related guidelines) - Inanimate and animate objects get numerals (“The 1-year-old two-toed sloth ...”); inanimate style was changed from spelled-out to numerals 6/95

-ish: use numeral and no hypen ie the 40ish woman; He is 60ish (but thirtysomething, etc.)

“People ages 9 to 90 are invited” (not AGE in this case)

-

Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC on second reference)

AIDS - Acceptable on first and all references

Airbus

airfares

airline ads (2/1/07):

Please don't put airline crashes, airline-related stories or obits on

the same page as an airline ad.

If a commercial jet goes down in the United States, most airline

companies want their ads yanked. If it's a major international crash, it

could get pulled as well. Questions about whether to kill an ad can be

directed to Gregg Bertness (ad director, cell: 818-424-3897). If you can't

connect with him, try Phillip.

airline names - Some are listed in a roundabout way under airlines in the AP Stylebook. But be sure you’re looking at an up-to-date listing

airports

Hawthorne Municipal Airport

Santa Monica Airport (not municipal)

Torrance Municipal Airport (Zamperini Field is at this airport); Torrance airport

airport commission

(Follow the approaches under the "harbor commission" listing)

airspace

airstrike

aka (no periods)

Albertsons

Al-Jazeera

Al Rasheed Hotel

al-Qaida

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA acceptable on second reference)

aliens/immigrants – See the AP Stylebook; illegal immigrant is preferred if that is the topic. Illegal alien is OK in a squeeze. In a direct quote, always preserve the speaker's choice. In narrative either is acceptable; it is also acceptable to use both within the same story. Although it may appear somewhat redundant, “illegal” is a necessary adjective for alien (in this context) as there are legal aliens, resident aliens, aliens with work permits, aliens seeking asylum, etc. Acceptable phrases (in order of preference) - illegal immigrants, undocumented immigrants, ,undocumented aliens, illegal aliens

Alpine Village - describe location as “near Carson” (per Tony Tranfa 9/17/97)

Amber Alert

America/American – in most cases, use U.S. or United States instead. Technically “America” refers to North America, South America and West Indies combined. We have chosen to use hip, cosmopolitan logic and so the more-specific “U.S.” is our preferred style unless we'd be repeating words in the same headline or sumgraf..

American Association of Retired Persons (Use AARP per AP Style)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU acceptable on second reference; ACLU is OK in a headline)

American Medical Association (AMA acceptable on second reference)

am/pm mini market (Arco's chain of gas-station-based convenience stores) - acceptable to use am/pm convenience store (dropping the mini market)

Angels Gate Cultural Center

animal lover (no hyphen)

animal-rights advocate/protester

antennas

anti-Semitic (not antisemitic as Webster's lists; AP's still using anti-Semitic)

anti-war (since AP isn’t budging)

Antonovich - L.A. County Supervisor Michael OR Mike Antonovich (he was asked his preference 4/97)

Apparent - Although “seeming” to be true is the third definition, use apparent (not apparently) for brevity and to relieve clutter. Example: In an apparent attempt to prod the Port of Los Angeles into paying for ... – NOT In what is apparently an attempt to prod ...

apparent suicide - The following comes from Frank, and reflects how the city desk handles it: The coroner's report could be days or even weeks in coming, depends on circumstances.

If there were witnesses who saw someone jump off the Vincent Thomas Bridge, it's a safe bet to call it a suicide.

If there was a suicide note and someone confirms it was in the dead person's handwriting, fairly safe bet it was a suicide.

If they just find a body at the bottom of a cliff, I'd have a hard time even saying apparent suicide.

Bottom line: it depends on circumstances and judgments should be made in conjunction with the news editor and city desk (when local). (3/96)

apple names (see food)

Arco

area codes (see phone numbers)

Armand Hammer Museum - on first reference, it is correctly referred to as the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center at UCLA. The Hammer Museum or UCLA Hammer Museum are OK on second reference

James Armstrong Theatre

art deco

artwork (as per Webster's Third)

ASCAP - American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, one of three musical rights groups recognized by federal courts (DB 1/11/94)

Asian (see race)

Association (spelled out per AP style)

Associated Press, The Associated Press, the AP

-athon

bikeathon

telethon

walkathon

ATM - (acceptable on first and all references) Don't use the redundant ATM machine.

Attributions - The city desk met with a news desk contingent (3/96) to discuss use of attribution in local stories. We came up with these guidelines:

attribute any allegation or claim that's under dispute

move attribution above jump so it makes A1

if something is not attributed, check whether it's in dispute (Talk to or call the first-read city desk editor at home)

watch out for “for” in constructions such as “John Doe was arrested for the murder of....” It makes it sound like we know for sure that person actually did the murder.

Autobahn - Construction of the autobahn system was ordered by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. The network's

6,800 miles (as of 1993) are second only to the U.S. interstate system. There are varying speed limits on parts of the autobahn. But there are also open-ended sections where drivers of Porsches, BMWs and other road rockets blast along at speeds of more than 140 mph. (from AP)

AAA “Formerly the American Automobile Association. On second reference, the automobile association or the association is acceptable.” Also, Automobile Club of Southern California, the auto club.