STYLE GUIDE + Copyediting

Using Quotes:

When providing attribution after a quote, always use a comma between the end of the sentence and the end quote, like so:

“When you have higher income folks moving into a place where they then put upward pressure on rent and home prices, it's not a choice for lower income people about whether they want to stay or leave that neighborhood,” housing expert Lisa Sturtevan said.

Also when attributing a quote, always use person said, never said person, like this:

"Why are we calling police this many times in one week," Lacey Thompson said.

Also when attributing quotes from people, only use the word said (or other verbal identifiers like “explained.”) Only documents can state things, and only people can say things.

Numerals:

In general, spell out one through nine: The Yankees finished second. He had nine months to go.

Use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. Also in all tabular matter, and in statistical and sequential forms. (More information here)

Titles:

In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name.

The basic guidelines:

LOWERCASE: Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an individual's name: The president issued a statement. The pope gave his blessing.

Lowercase and spell out titles in constructions that set them off from a name by commas: The vice president, Kamala Harris, was elected in 2020. Pope Francis, the current pope, was born in Argentina.

FORMAL TITLES: Capitalize formal titles when they are used immediately before one or more names: Pope Francis, President Joe Biden, Vice Presidents Yukari Nakamura and Vanessa Smith.

A formal title generally is one that denotes a scope of authority, professional activity or academic activity: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Dr. Benjamin Spock, retired Gen. Colin Powell.

Other titles serve primarily as occupational descriptions: astronaut Sally Ride, poet Maya Angelou.

A final determination on whether a title is formal or occupational depends on the practice of the governmental or private organization that confers it. If there is doubt about the status of a title and the practice of the organization cannot be determined, use a construction that sets the name or the title off with commas. (More information here)

African American or Black?:

FROM AP

"African American No hyphen (a change in 2019 for this and other dual heritage terms). Acceptable for an American Black person of African descent. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable. Americans of Caribbean heritage, for example, generally refer to themselves as Caribbean American. Follow a person’s preference."

Do not hyphen dual heritages such as African American:

FROM AP

"dual heritage No hyphen (a change in 2019 from previous style) for terms such as African American, Asian American and Filipino American, used when relevant to refer to an American person’s heritage. The terms are less common when used to describe non-Americans, but may be used when relevant: Turkish German for a German of Turkish descent."

Don't use demographic identifiers unless relevant:

Unless you're writing a story about someone's identification, there is a need to contextualize a quote or explain the inclusion of a source, do not label a source's race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, etc., in your story.

On Pronouns:

Reporters do not write sentence explain a cis person's pronouns, and therefore, people of other gender identities do not need explanatory sentences explaining their pronouns.

Do not write "preferred pronouns" as preferred can send a message that a source's gender is a preference rather than reality.

Using Black as an adjective:

FROM AP

"Black (adj.) Use the capitalized term as an adjective in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense: Black people, Black culture, Black literature, Black studies, Black colleges.

African American is also acceptable for those in the U.S. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable. Americans of Caribbean heritage, for example, generally refer to themselves as Caribbean American. Follow an individual’s preference if known, and be specific when possible and relevant. Minneapolis has a large Somali American population because of refugee resettlement. The author is Senegalese American.

Use of the capitalized Black recognizes that language has evolved, along with the common understanding that especially in the United States, the term reflects a shared identity and culture rather than a skin color alone.

Also use Black in racial, ethnic and cultural differences outside the U.S. to avoid equating a person with a skin color.

Use Negro or colored only in names of organizations or in rare quotations when essential."

Using Black or white as a noun:

FROM AP

"Black(s), white(s) (n.) Do not use either term as a singular noun. For plurals, phrasing such as Black people, white people, Black teachers, white students is often preferable when clearly relevant. White officers account for 64% of the police force, Black officers 21% and Latino officers 15%. The gunman targeted Black churchgoers. The plural nouns Blacks and whites are generally acceptable when clearly relevant and needed for reasons of space or sentence construction. He helped integrate dance halls among Blacks, whites, Latinos and Asian Americans. Black and white are acceptable as adjectives when relevant."

Using "central Ohio":

Because central Ohio is not a well-known geographical area, we lowercase central. For example, the Midwest is a well-known geographical area, therefore it is capitalized.

What to do when other sources deadname or misgender a trans person:

From the Trans Journalists' Style Guide

"A friend, family member, or the police may misgender or deadname your source. Do not use that quote in your story without a correction. Use brackets to replace the incorrect information with the correct information for text stories. For video or audio stories, reporters should find another clip or write around the deadnaming or misgendering. If this is not possible, consider not using this person as a source. You may also let the listener/viewer know the person is being misgendered/deadnamed and bleep those words out, as you would with a curse word or protected personal information."

When to capitalize "city" when referring to Columbus or its government:

Determining the appropriate time to capitalize city can be a bit confusing. Here's a breakdown:

When referring to Columbus' governmental bodies, capitalize City.

Example: "The City has struggled to create legislation around demilitarizing the police."

When referring to the city as a whole, lowercase city.

Example: "Officials have said that the city is in a time of crisis."

Lowercase elsewhere: an Ohio city; the city government; the city Board of Education; and all city of phrases: the city of Boston.

Other instances where city should be uppercase or lowercase:

Capitalize city if part of a proper name, an integral part of an official name, or a regularly used nickname: Kansas City, New York City, Windy City, City of Light, Fun City.

Capitalize when part of a formal title before a name: City Manager Francis McGrath. Lowercase when not part of the formal title: city Health Commissioner Frank Smith.

Writing about trans people's past:

From the Trans Journalists' Style Guide:

"Always use someone's current name and pronouns when writing about that person in the past, unless they tell you otherwise."

• The Diversity Style Guide (likely most comprehensive)

• Trans Journalist Association Style Guide

• National Association of Black Journalists Style Guide

• Disability Language Style Guide