John, Persuading the AP to correct its Stlebook would be a great achievement.
I do have some suggestions for your letter to the AP. Begin with the standards. "The United States Constitution grants to Congress the authority to fix the Weights and Measures (W&M) of the Unites States. Congress has delegated this authority to the Secretary of Commerce, to set the W&M standards for the United States. The Secretary has, in turn, assigned the details of W&M to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The U.S, standard for Scientific Measurements is defined in NIST Special Publications 330 and 811. The standard for Commercial (legal) Measurements is specified in NIST Handbooks 44, 130, and 133. My recent study of these standards documents, and of the AP Stylebook (2009 Edition) convince me that the AP Stylebook is in need of major revisions to bring it into harmony with U.S. Public Laws and the standards documents cited above..." I have some more specific recommendations if you are interested? Gene. ---- Original message ---- >Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 16:55:13 -0700 (PDT) >From: "John M. Steele" <[email protected]> >Subject: [USMA:50422] AP Styleguide 2009, was Re: Alfa Romeo Readies a >Stirring Stateside Return >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > > My library arranged an interlibrary loan of a 2009 > edition. The kilometer per hour entry was added > sometime between 2006 and 2009. It says: > "kilometers per hour The abbreviation kph is > acceptable in all references." > > It should, of course, say kph is wrong in all > references, and require the proper symbol, km/h, as > the only allowable "short form" with the only other > acceptable alternative writing it out in full. > Other parts of the guide say that any abbreviation > not specifically listed may not be used, so, by > omission, AP says the correct km/h is not permitted > in journalism. > > I have gone through the AP Stylebook in some > detail. I disagree with their basic policy of not > using metric, but that is policy, not a technical > issue. I believe they have seven technical issues > that should be corrected. I have attached a draft > of a letter I plan to send them, and would > appreciate the forum's comments on the content. ...
