AP Style Standard Meets Social Media Revolution

[Jason Kintzler]

With 140 word Tweets, IM applications and new social media release templates calling for narrow, bulleted points it's no wonder the journalism and PR communities are so vocal about social media these days. If I were a veteran newsie, I'd be a little dismayed too.

The back and forth dispute about a recent PR spam incident and the ensuing Blogger Blacklist got me thinking - there are some glaring differences between social media and traditional journalism methods. I can always appreciate a well written blog, but let's face it, there are plenty of them out there that are nothing more than an informal rant with no regard for AP style delivery. Anyone can blog, but not everyone can write. So, it's only natural to think that we should approach each camp differently. Social media as it stands serves both journalists and bloggers respectively.

I saw a post from Robert Scoble on FriendFeed where he said, "Professional journalists hate bloggers who live by different rules than they do. The rules are changing from "never have conflicts and never disclose your opinion" to "disclose your conflicts and tell people your opinion." That drives old school journalists batty..."

For bloggers, social media offers concise delivery with straight-to-the-point facts and more importantly, two or three-way dialog between PR pro, brand and blogger. Bloggers are more inclined to be dialed-in to updates via RSS or Twitter, but less likely to need a full arsenal of press kit-style materials. Their blog post is often under less constraints than that of a print journalist, making the collection process shorter and the overall turnaround quicker.

For journalists, social media is the future. As more and more writers (print and online) become accustom to the new tools available to them the more relevant social media will be. Currently, most journalists are using some components of social media, but the PR industry as a whole has not adopted a standard method of merging the mediums. On one hand, journalists are under increasing pressure to do more with less, and make do. This is where AP meets social media.

AP (Associated Press) style is considered standard practice for most PR practitioners, educators and professionals. I posed the question "Is AP style still relevant?" on the forum at PROpenMic and got a great quote/comment from Robert French, "It’s a style guide, not a style cult. Use common sense and pick your battles wisely."

The most accepted style format known to man is not going away anytime soon, nor should it. But with social media tools tightening up the pitch process, it has opened the door for PR pros to cut out the common practice of including an AP style release. Looking at the Todd Defren's Social Media Release Template update, it's apparent he's heard much of the same. The newest version calls for more flexibility allowing the user to insert bullets, or narrative.

While most of the people surveyed (on LinkedIn, PitchEngine and PROpenMic) said that AP is still relevant, the majority said that more concise information was appreciated. Reading through long releases is a waste of time and can even leave a bad taste in an editor's mouth. The key to using AP is speaking the same language as the person you're pitching. Moreover, short deadlines and crunched budgets mean editor's are more likely to cut and paste your press release if it's in the correct AP format. My philosophy in PR has always been to make it easier for the writer in every way possible.

I propose we use a hybrid social media release/AP release format. Make the pitch concise - bullets are great, but allow the user (journalist) to click for more information, or to expand for the entire AP style press release. This will make it much easier to skim over, and voluntarily click for the narrative.

I find myself reinforcing this point in every blog post - make it simple and make social media a value to journalists. Show them (in their language) how social media can work for them and don't try to do all things at once. Don't try to meet the needs of bloggers and journalists AND consumers with one magic media release- it's just not going to happen. The better calculated we are now in the development of social media public relations the quicker it will be adopted. The revolution has begun.

Original post on PitchEngine

[Jason Kintzler]

I didn't intend to portray the AP stylebook as old-school, more as a traditional method of composing press releases. AP style press release do have a format. Headline, subhead, lead and so on. (not to mention the AP style guidelines of comma use, etc. you mention.)
To get a good frame of reference, take a look at the social media release templates in question. They are calling for a completely new way to position news contents to writers. This is where journalists and PR pros are struggling at the moment.
I agree, the message has to be relevant in the first place, but hopefully that's inherent for the pitcher.
Thanks for the dialog!

[Jim Akin]

Your larger point is well-taken, but equating the AP Stylebook with stodgy old-school journalistic practices distorts the point.

Unless it has changed radically in the years since I left the newspaper world, the Stylebook governs usage issues such as where to place commas in dates and which abbreviations and acronyms are acceptable. If there's such a thing as an "AP-style news release," I've never heard of it.

In any written communication, substance always will trump style. Adhering to AP style (or Chicago style, or -- if anyone remembers it -- Wired style) can't dress up irrelevant news, but maintaining usage standards in the interest of clarity and consistency won't detract from effective messaging, either.