The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative Newspaper is a style guide created in 1950 by editors at the newspaper and revised in 1974, 1999, and 2002 by Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly. A revised and expanded paperback edition was published in 2002.[1] According to the Times Deputy News Editor Philip B. Corbett (in charge of revising the manual) in 2007, the newspaper maintains an updated, intranet version of the manual that is used by NYT staff, but this online version was not available to the general public.[2] Instead, an epub version was issued in February 2015 for sale to the public.[3] In September 2015, however, this fifth public edition of the book was also released in paperback form (Three Rivers Press, ISBN 978-1101905449).
The New York Times Manual has various differences from the more influential, annual Associated Press Stylebook. As some examples, the NYT Manual:
- Uses 's for possessives even for a word/name ending in s
- Gives rationales for many practices for which AP simply states a rule
- Is strictly alphabetical and thus self-indexed, while AP has separate sections for sports and weather entries, and combines many entries under such terms as "weapons"
- Has some whimsical entries – such as one for how to spell shh – in contrast to AP's drier, more utilitarian format (though the NYT book is not alone in its tone among journalistic style guides)
- Requires that the surnames of subjects (sports figures being the most notable exceptions) be prefixed with a courtesy title (such as Dr., Mr., Ms., or Mrs.)
The style guides of Dow Jones & Company and The Wall Street Journal are similar to The Times's counterpart (WSJ also adheres to the AP Stylebook), but they have those differences given above.
References
- ↑ The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage : The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative Newspaper. Three Rivers Press. 2002. ISBN 978-0812963892.
- ↑ Talk to the Newsroom: Deputy News Editor Philip B. Corbett, retrieved 3 February 2010
- ↑ "The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, 2015 Edition: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative News Organization". Retrieved 25 February 2015.