New AP Style adopted for state names

BC-AP Style,Advisory/116
BC-AP Style,Advisory
EDITORS:

The Associated Press is changing its style on state abbreviations.

Starting May 15, we will spell out the names of U.S. states in all stories and datelines where a city is followed by a state name. SACRAMENTO, Calif., for example, will become SACRAMENTO, California.

State abbreviations will continue to be used in NewsAlerts and headlines.

In making this change, we will be creating a consistent and universal style for international as well as domestic use.

We also will drop the practice of including names of Canadian provinces in datelines. We will instead use Canada. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, for example, will become VANCOUVER, Canada.

The AP