Style Guide Journlaism
Titles- People:
Traditional approach: The Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, said…
Explosive approach: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.. (no commas, no honorific)
Give people correct titles: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Senator, Dr, Profesor.
Ignore flourishes such as: the Honourable, His Grace, Her majesty, the Right Rev.
Honorifics:
Mr, Mrs, Ms to all except sports men/ women, artists, actors, authors, musicians, convicted criminals, journalists and the long dead (Hitler, Lincoln).
Omit the honorific at the first reference: “Union secretary Les Allout said…” thereafter Mr Allout.
Drop them in columns, comment pieces and descriptive writing.
Try to find out whether a woman wants to be Ms, Miss or Mrs.
Do not use foreign honorifics (Herr, Monsieur) unless you are quoting.
Titles- Other
Italicize newspapers and magazines (The Australan, the Herald Sun, New Idea), Books, poems, plays, movies, TV programs, art works, song titles and music.
Police
Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner should not be abbreviated. At second and later referenced the office-holder becomes Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms. So, Police Commissioner John Smith, followed by Mr Smith.
Numbers:
Lists:
For simple items, a normal sentence using commas (The case contained a red shirt, a pair of trousers and a toothbrush).
For a list of items that are several words long or contain internal punctuation, use semi-colons (The case contained a red, blue and green checked shirt; a pair of linen trousers, slightly worn and with a patch on the right knee; and a toothbrush.)
For lists in which each item of information is even longer, use paragraphs.
Measurements:
Use abbreviations for all measurements except tonne and litre.
No full point after an abreviation (except end of sentence).
No space between number and abbreviation (7.5kg, 5am)
All abbreviations are expresses in the singular, so 30km, not 30kms.
Fractions should be expressed as decimals. So 1.5km not 1 ½km.
List of units and abbreviations:
Traditional approach: The Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, said…
Explosive approach: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.. (no commas, no honorific)
Give people correct titles: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Senator, Dr, Profesor.
Ignore flourishes such as: the Honourable, His Grace, Her majesty, the Right Rev.
Honorifics:
Mr, Mrs, Ms to all except sports men/ women, artists, actors, authors, musicians, convicted criminals, journalists and the long dead (Hitler, Lincoln).
Omit the honorific at the first reference: “Union secretary Les Allout said…” thereafter Mr Allout.
Drop them in columns, comment pieces and descriptive writing.
Try to find out whether a woman wants to be Ms, Miss or Mrs.
Do not use foreign honorifics (Herr, Monsieur) unless you are quoting.
Titles- Other
Italicize newspapers and magazines (The Australan, the Herald Sun, New Idea), Books, poems, plays, movies, TV programs, art works, song titles and music.
Police
Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner should not be abbreviated. At second and later referenced the office-holder becomes Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms. So, Police Commissioner John Smith, followed by Mr Smith.
Numbers:
Lists:
For simple items, a normal sentence using commas (The case contained a red shirt, a pair of trousers and a toothbrush).
For a list of items that are several words long or contain internal punctuation, use semi-colons (The case contained a red, blue and green checked shirt; a pair of linen trousers, slightly worn and with a patch on the right knee; and a toothbrush.)
For lists in which each item of information is even longer, use paragraphs.
Measurements:
Use abbreviations for all measurements except tonne and litre.
No full point after an abreviation (except end of sentence).
No space between number and abbreviation (7.5kg, 5am)
All abbreviations are expresses in the singular, so 30km, not 30kms.
Fractions should be expressed as decimals. So 1.5km not 1 ½km.
List of units and abbreviations: