##  [News Style Guide](/news-style-guide-0) 

 Definition

A documented set of editorial standards that prescribes a publication’s conventions for grammar, usage, capitalization, spelling, punctuation, formatting, naming, attribution, courtesy titles, anonymization, and other presentation choices used to ensure consistent, clear, and accountable reporting.

 

 

 

 

 

 





## Principle

Principle

A style guide institutionalizes editorial choices so that staff produce readable, internally consistent output and reduce ambiguity about attribution, naming, and formatting choices across formats and platforms.

 

 

 

 

 





## Demonstration

Demonstration

Illustrative scenario — Situation: A reporter prepares a story quoting a confidential source. Recognition: The reporter consults the Style Guide for the outlet’s preferred phrasing for anonymous attribution and the required editorial label. Action: The reporter uses the prescribed wording and marks the piece for legal review per guide instructions. Consequence: Readers receive a consistent signal about the level of attribution; the newsroom maintains predictable internal handling of similar cases.

 

 

 

 

## Misapplication

Misapplication

Assuming the style guide replaces legal, ethical, or editorial judgment. The error is treating house style as a substitute for legal advice or for context‑sensitive editorial decisions; style prescribes form, not substantive legal or ethical permissibility.

 

 

 

 

 





## Consequence

Consequence

Consistent application of a style guide enhances clarity, comparability across pieces, and audience trust; misuse (e.g., rigid enforcement without editorial judgment) can obscure necessary context or impede necessary editorial discretion.

 

 

 

 

## Reversal

Reversal

Different platforms, languages, or local legal regimes may require deviations from the house guide; style guides therefore typically allow explicit exceptions or platform‑specific supplements rather than absolute universality.

 

 

 

 

 





## Boundary

Boundary

Clearly within: an internal manual specifying how to attribute anonymous sources, format datelines, and apply punctuation. Boundary case: adopting AP or other external style for a single project — compatible but not identical to the outlet’s guide. Clearly outside: individual reporters’ personal writing preferences that conflict with published guidance.

 

 

 

 

 





## Semantic Tension

Semantic Tension

Consistency ↔ Contextual Judgment — the value of uniform presentation versus the need for case‑by‑case editorial decisions that may appropriately depart from the guide.

 

 

 

 

 





## Synthesis

Synthesis

A news style guide is the codified grammar of a newsroom: it reduces friction in collaborative publishing by fixing presentation choices, while explicitly leaving room for editorial judgment and legal consultation where substance, not form, drives the decision.