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Style and style guides

Chapter · June 2019

DOI: 10.1002/9781118841570

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 The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies IEJS

Style and Style Guides

Michaël Opgenhaffen
University of Leuven, Belgium
Leiden University, The Netherlands
Michael.Opgenhaffen@kuleuven.be

Jaap de Jong
University of Leiden, The Netherlands
J.C.de.Jong@hum.leidenuniv.nl

Word count = 2344

Abstract
This entry elaborates on style and style guides, the sets of house-rules issued by news organizations in
order to manage the use of news style by their journalists and reporters. News media can use these
style guides to align itself towards its own journalists and to externally profile itself towards the
audience and other news media. By doing so, style and style guides can be studied as an institutional
voice that goes beyond the simple use of words. With continuing changes in society and the ongoing
updates to style guides, the question about more research into style guides remains relevant. This entry
argues that more research is desirable in order to gain greater insights into this important and
continually evolving journalistic instrument.

Keywords
News language, style bible, guidelines, usage guides, ombudsmen, digital media accountability

Main Text
Style is a very broad concept. It may for some include house decorating, visual art and fashion. Most
scholars in discourse and news media, when dealing with style, refer to linguistic style elements like
choice of words, the use of tropes, sentence structure, tone of voice, connotation and narrative
techniques.

News style can be seen as a complex and challenging phenomenon that can be studied. Vultee
(2012) suggested that news style should set out news in a business-like way while simultaneously
sounding exciting. It must fulfil several important principles that distinguish professional journalism from
non-professional news providers, including nuance and source justification, while at the same time
addressing a broad and often inattentive audience. News style can be distinct for a particular type of
newspaper (e.g. elite newspapers versus tabloid journalism), a theme (e.g. sport versus economy),
specific platforms (e.g. printed magazines versus social media news) or even a title (Fox versus CNN).
The importance of news style is quite clear: the choice of text and language within the news medium is
not neutral. In Journalism Studies news style is seen as essential for the way a news organisation can

 The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies IEJS

align itself (towards its own journalists) and externally profile itself (towards the audience and other
news media).

And because this is so important, advice and house-rules have been published by various news
media, in style guides, since the last century, e.g. The (Manchester) Guardian in 1929, The New York
Times in 1950 and AP in 1953. And with good reason. The BBC states that it receives more than 250,000
complaints every year, most of which are said to target the BBC’s use of language. According to J. Allen,
author of the 2003 BBC News Style guide, the BBC’s “use, or perceived misuse, of English produces a
greater response from our audiences than anything else.” Almost all media, including the less
professional, have style sheets covering style and language rules and internal agreements, which may or
may not been stuffed into a drawer or placed in a seldom-seen file. Only the media with a little
confidence in their own professionalism will also have published their style bible for all readers, viewers
and listeners to read.

The term style bible could suggest that it includes strict rules which must be followed by the
editors within the news media, without any freedom of choice and at the risk of being penalised in the
event of non-compliance. When style guides were implemented and published, journalists feared a
restriction of the journalist's natural love of freedom and mistrust of collectivity. Some style guides
sound pretty strict; the tradition of the elementary rules written in 1946 by George Orwell states:
“Never use a long word where a short one will do”, “If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out”
and “Never use the passive where you can use the active.” These Orwellian rules form the heart of many
style guides. However, other guides emphasise in their prefaces the fact that they should not be applied
too rigidly and that freedom of style is still permitted. Most style guides in circulation can be seen as a
collection of guidelines, as handy reference guides that simplify the work of the (decreasing numbers of)
editors and, in theory, prevent as many style issues having to be discussed. In their focus on
“correctness, consistency, clarity and concision” (Cameron 1996) they have a positive impact on
legibility; clear and concise news stories which are not confused by language so that the reader can
enjoy the story rather than struggling with it. The style guide as efficient manner for creating uniformity.

Style guides are particularly popular among their creators, the editors-in-chief and the editors'
language conscience. At the end of the 20th century there are other stakeholders in the style guide; the
editors' ombudsmen. In their replies to questions from readers, viewers or listeners, they can refer to
the agreements in the style guide and thus make editorial choices more transparent and on occasion
nudge journalists towards compliance with agreements. Recently, there have been huge efforts by news
organisations to make their style choices more public and open for discussion by not only publishing
books but also putting (part of) the style guide online and even using Twitter accounts which offer
regular style tips, as AP and The Guardian do. This is a great illustration of the growing importance of
classic and digital media accountability and media transparency by news organisations in the post-News
of the World era (e.g. Fengler et al., 2014).

Media that still publish a style guide can also profile themselves in this context; they apply an
explicitly 'institutional voice', a specific vocabulary and use politically-correct language (or not) to find a
connection into the discourse of their audience and distinguish themselves from the other types of news

 The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies IEJS

media. Conboy (2006), in this context, talks about style as an essential part of the “ideological pact with
the reader” whereby the style of the medium should connect as effectively as possible with the style of
the audience. This is not only seen in the so-called quality media, but also in more tabloid, populist
publications. In the Netherlands, there is even a well-known online news medium that distinguishes
itself on the basis of a politically-incorrect style. The medium is called Geenstijl (“outrageous behaviour”,
literally translated as NoStyle), so that the audience immediately knows that the platform stands for (as
they define themselves) “biased, unfounded and unnecessarily offensive journalism”. The profiles also
serve another purpose, i.e. to show the media (in times that may involve fake news) as more
professional than other media or amateur journalists who do not operate according to the standards in
the style guide. In this setting, they also do journalistic boundary work.

In contrast to what is suggested by the titles of the style guides, the guides cover more than just
style. Firstly, it is often about spelling or other forms of correct language usage, with a focus on
grammatical usage, that the style guides share with the traditional usage guides. Cameron (1996)
described how style guides do more than usage guides. In a style guide, the news organisation shows
which variant of language and style it chooses, which exceptions there are, and provides an explanation
of language aspects that are not included in a usage guide, such as the issue of how to refer to
minorities or a person's gender. Style guides describe journalistic practices such as the principle of
letting the other side be heard, what to do with gifts, using the names of suspects (in full or with an
initial), anonymous sources (“don't use, unless...”) and so on. Also unexpected in a style guide – where
one might expect a focus on style – are encyclopaedic passages: lists of Nobel prize winners, forms of
address in the armed forces and legal cases, summaries of premiers and monarchs, and lists of
pseudonyms.

Precisely because of the variety of content and functions, and the realisation that style guides
cover far more than just pure style, one may well ask why there is no better term than style guides for
this type of hybrid collection of guidelines, which illustrates its ideological role more effectively. Muñoz-
Torrez (2007) suggested the possible reason was simply that a better term had not been found, but also
the fact that this term offers journalists a degree of protection against criticism because they can argue,
during sensitive discussions about the relationship between their text and any ideology or viewpoints,
that they just followed the style guide.

Because of the above content and functions, style guides are not only an interesting 'given' from
a purely practical journalistic standpoint, they also offer scientific added value even though the number
of studies examining style guides so far has been rather limited. Just like interviews with news managers
or news-makers, or an analysis of journalistic output, an analysis of style guides can be a useful
instrument for gaining insights into a specific news organisation or genre and how the policy on
language and also, by definition, certain sensitive journalistic behavioural topics, has evolved over the
years. The study by Vultee (2012), for example, examined AP's guidelines in the period between 1977
and 2010, with a focus on how AP reporters should communicate about the Middle-East. Just on a
quantitative basis, you can see big differences: in 1977 the term Islam was only given 4 lines in the style
guide whereas, 25 years later, there is a far greater focus on this term. When various news media and
the corresponding style guides are compared to one another, insights can also be gained into how the

 The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies IEJS

various titles deal with specific thorny issues on a domestic, international and even regional basis. It is
clear that the BBC and Al-Jazeera have different stipulations regarding the way in which their reporters
report on the Middle-East (see Barkho, 2011). Al Jazeera's style guide explicitly states that the region
known by the Israeli's as the “disputed territories” is referred to by its reporters as “illegal settlements”,
whereas the BBC permits the use of the former term as it is clear that this is used by the Israeli
government and that broadcasts using this term are referring to the way in which these areas are
viewed by the government. It is clear that the BBC and Al-Jazeera use two style guides and two
completely different ways to refer to a news aspect; it is often evident that it's about far more than just
a difference in word usage.

The times they are a-changing. News media must still update and maintain their style guides
otherwise they lose their authority and role. They must tackle the changing style and language
sensitivity of their critical news users. Consider, for example, recent decisions on the use of “illegal”
versus “undocumented” immigrants or on guidelines for covering the LGBTQ community. The LA Times,
for example, in an amendment from 2017, referred to the fact that our understanding of gender and
sexual orientation is evolving, and that the news medium wanted to be contemporary, clear and flexible
in its language, while maintaining consistency of style. In general, the news medium suggests that when
they are writing about sexual orientation and gender identity, just as when they write about race and
ethnicity, they should aim to avoid stereotyping and only report sexual orientation and gender identity
when it is relevant to the story. More specifically, the guidelines state that the term LGBTQ is used as an
umbrella term for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community and that LGBTQ is a
better term than referring to the 'gay community' as it is more inclusive.

With continuing changes in society and the ongoing updates to style guides, the question about
more research into style guides remains relevant. An initial aspect on which future research could focus
would be the extent to which these guidelines are effectively followed by the journalists and whether
the consistency and clarity that is set internally is actually achieved. Research by language researcher
Ralph Fasold (1987) offers perspective: it clearly shows that when style guides have advised against
using sexist language, the quantity of sexist expressions in that medium has reduced substantially.
Research must also be conducted into the way in which journalists perceive this advice, which is often
imposed by management. They could see these style guides either as limiting their freedom, or as a
handy instrument for working efficiently. Previous research (Opgenhaffen & Scheerlinck, 2014) into
social media guidelines (guidelines issued for editorials, about journalists offering personal opinions on
social media, for example) provided surprising results. Journalists regard this advice as perhaps
unnecessary as they feel able to use their common sense to deal with the new reality, however they
have varying views on a number of sensitive issues (can one retweet a tweet or publish breaking news
on Twitter?) and this could lead to problems in practice. Finally, research must also elaborate on the
impact of these hybrid style guides in news media on public opinion, for example. Scholars still know too
little about how the way in which different descriptions of specific, sensitive topics and news aspects
generate different images in the imaginations of the news users. More research into who makes the
style guides, and how the advice changes over the course of time (e.g. the new instructions on dealing

 The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies IEJS

with online and offline images) is desirable in order to gain greater insights into this important and
continually evolving journalistic instrument.

SEE ALSO:

IEJS0035
IEJS0050
IEJS0053
IEJS0078
IEJS0102
IEJS0252

References
Allen, J. (2003). The BBC News Styleguide. Retrieved from
http://www.wsscc.org/sites/default/files/publications/bbc_the_bbc_news_styleguide_2003.pdf

Barkho, L. (2011). The role of internal guidelines in shaping news narratives: Ethnographic insights into
the discursive rhetoric of Middle East reporting by the BBC and Al-Jazeera English. Critical Discourse
Studies, 8(4), 297-309. doi: 10.1080/17405904.2011.601642

Cameron, D. (1996). Style policy and style politics: a neglected aspect of the language of the news.
Media, Culture and Society, 18, 315-333. doi: 10.1177/016344396018002008

Conboy, M. (2006). Tabloid Britain: Constructing a Community through Language. London and New
York: Routledge.

Fasold, R., Yamada, H., Robinson, D., & Barish, S. (1990). The language-planning effect of newspaper
editorial policy: Gender differences in The Washington Post. Language in Society, 19(4), 521-539. doi:
10.1017/S0047404500014809

Fengler, S., Eberwein, T., Mazzoleni, G., Porlezza, C., & Russ-Mohl, S. (2014). Journalists and media
accountability. An international study of news people in the digital age. Nueva York: Peter Lang
Publishing.

Muñoz-Torres, J. R. (2007). Underlying Epistemological Conceptions in Journalism. The case of three

leading Spanish newspapers’ stylebooks. Journalism Studies, 8(2), 224-247. doi:
10.1080/14616700601148838

Opgenhaffen M., & Scheerlinck H. (2014). Social media guidelines for journalists: An investigation into
the sense and nonsense among Flemish journalists. Journalism Practice, 8 (6), 726-741. doi:
10.1080/17512786.2013.869421

 The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies IEJS

Orwell, G. (1946, reprinted in 2006). Politics and the English Language. Peterborough: Broadview Press.

Vultee, F. (2012). A paleontology of style: The evolution of the Middle East in the AP Stylebook 1977–
2010. Journalism Practice, 6(4), 450-464. doi: 10.1080/17512786.2012.674834

Further Readings

Cotter, Colleen (2010). News Talk: Investigating the Language of Journalism. Cambridge, U.K.:
Cambridge University Press.

Brief Author Biography

Michaël Opgenhaffen is assistant professor of Journalism and New Media at the University of Leuven
(Belgium) and Leiden University (The Netherlands). His research addresses: (a) the relationship between
social media, news production and news consumption; and (b) the use of social media guidelines by
(news) organizations. His work has been published in international journals such as the International
Journal on Media Management, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journalism Practice, The European
Journal for Communication Research and Employee Relations.

Jaap de Jong is professor of Journalism and New Media at Leiden University (The Netherlands). He
lectures in rhetoric, style in politics and in journalism. As a researcher he wrote books and articles on
political speeches and stylistical and rhetorical aspects of journalism. He is editor of Dutch language
journal Onze Taal and co-author of books as Handboek Stijl (1997), Bending opinion, Essays on
Persuasion in the Public Domain (2010), Visual Language, Perspectives for both Makers and Users
(2012).

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