Blog: Jeneca Jones

I am approached by co-workers who pose this question often: “Hyphen or no hyphen?”

“Well, it depends,” is normally my response. “How is it used in the sentence?”

My standard reply comes straight from the punctuation chapter of the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, which was hammered into my head by a hard-nosed editor I worked for at a small, community newspaper.

So here it goes…

“Hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words. Use of the hyphen is far more standardized. It is optional in most cases, a matter of taste, judgment and style sense. But the fewer the hyphens the better; use them only when not using them causes confusion.”

Here’s an example we encountered today. Which is correct?

A: “This vegetable-and-seafood pasta dish makes an excellent entrée.”

OR

B: “This vegetable and seafood pasta dish makes an excellent entrée.”

We decided against the hyphens. Without them, there is no confusion. The following, sentence, however, would be clunky without them.

“This sweet-meets-spicy salad is bursting with flavor.”

Do you agree?

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If you’re writing press releases, social media releases or sending story ideas to local media, you should be using AP style. AP what, you ask? The Associated Press (“AP”) is THE global news network. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from the AP. Founded in 1846, it’s one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering (according to the Associated Press).

It’s also the place a journalist turns to when he or she needs to know whether to use make up (v.) or makeup (n.) or to find out if whistle-blower is one word, two words or hyphenated (it’s hyphenated – every journalist wishes they could be so lucky to look this one up).

Yes, these little details are the kinds of things that keep journalists up at night, wondering if they got it right hours after they’ve filed a story with the editor.

And when in doubt, go to the Associated Press Stylebook Online to ensure (not insure) your press release would pass the AP test.

The AP website (yes, website is one word and lowercased now – that change happened in 2010) is an excellent tool for anyone working in the public relations field. It’s easy to use, the membership fee is reasonable, and they’ll even send updates straight to your inbox.

You might be surprised how often AP style changes. Today, we were notified that three very common words have changed: cellphone (one word), email (no hyphen) and smartphone (one word).

So do your journalist friends a favor, and stay up to date. Toss out that fossilized AP Stylebook from college and get to know the online stylebook. It’s a tool you can use every day (not everyday).

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Keep it short and sweet. Your readers will thank you. The End.

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Headline writing tip No. 5: Choose words that are as interesting as your story. Here are some award-winning examples:

Headline: Quints baaaaffle owner

The story: In this case, the headline was almost more entertaining than the story, which was about a goat that had quintuplets.

Headline: Trail of dirt leads to burglary ring

The story: The victim of theft follows a trail of dirt from his farm to the property where police eventually make their arrests as part of a large-scale theft and burglary ring.

Headline: A little change goes a long way

The story: Oregon students collect change to send to Katrina victims

Headline: Making a miracle: Two generations create a third

The story: A woman serves as the surrogate for her daughter and son-in-law’s baby.

Headline: Rodeo riders find relief for raw hides

The story and sub-head: Ropers, racers and stock riders turn to massage to soothe achy-breaky bodies.

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Headline writing tip No. 3: Don’t pat yourself or your client on the back. Reporters can smell self-promotion a mile away. Avoid writing headlines that include the words “thanks to,” as in: “Park gets needed upgrades, thanks to ABC Construction Company.” When you send an e-mail with this in the subject line, you’re likely to get a swift “thanks, but no thanks.”

Headline writing tip No. 4: Create a visual picture in the reader’s mind. Consider this headline: “Sabertooth salmon leaps into 21st Century,” which summed up the story of a rare fossil found in the ‘70s that was later scanned using high-tech Computed Tomography, so that it could be studied worldwide.

In case you missed them here are tips 1 and 2.

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