NUMBERS

GENERALLY SPEAKING and there are some exceptions spell out whole numbers from one through nine. Use numerals for numbers larger than nine.
EXAMPLE: Two people were killed and 17 were injured in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday after a car bomb exploded at a busy intersection

ONE EXCEPTION: If a number larger than nine comes at the beginning of a sentence, spell it out. Use hyphens where appropriate.
EXAMPLES: ~ Seventeen people were injured in Tel Aviv, Israel Saturday after a car bomb exploded at a busy intersection ~ Forty-two workers received pink slips at the local WidgetCorp facility Friday, and company officials say another 75 jobs could be cut by

AN EXCEPTION TO THAT EXCEPTION: If the first word in a sentence is a year, use numbers.
EXAMPLE:
2010 marked the beginning of what is being called

ANOTHER EXCEPTION: Ages.

Unless they come at the very beginning of a sentence, always use figures for ages and dont forget that ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or used as substitutes for a noun use hyphens.

A 5-year-old boy
The boy is 5 years old.

The boy, 7, has a sister, 11.

The woman, 26, has a daughter who is 2 months

old.
The race is for 3-year-olds.

PERCENTAGES
Always use figures - regardless of whether it's greater or less than 10 and always spell out the word "percent."
EXAMPLE:

While the price of a meal ticket at Clemson University rose only 2 percent last year, school officials say this year's hike could be as much as 10 percent, thanks to

For amounts less than one percent, precede the decimal number with a zero.
EXAMPLE: The local unemployment rate rose 0.2 percent for October.

MONEY REFERENCES
For all but the most casual references, always use numerals and a dollar sign for money references greater than $1. For cents, always use a numeral and the word "cents" after it not the cent symbol. NOTE: This applies regardless of whether it's greater or less than 10 cents.

EXAMPLE: The average cost of textbooks for Clemson students this semester was $161.42. While that represents an increase of just 78 cents over last year's average costs, students say the price tag for books is still too high

Another note on dollars

If youre referring to an even dollar amount, do not include a decimal and two zeroes behind it.
WRONG: $175.00

RIGHT: $175

BIG NUMBERS
MILLIONS & BILLIONS: In the vast majority of cases, you'll use a figure followed by the word "million" or "billion" - regardless of whether that figure is greater or less than 10. With dollar amounts, precede the numeral with a dollar sign.

EXAMPLES: ~ The South Carolina Board of Regents is warning university administrators that budget cuts could be as high as $48 million ~ Indias population will soon surpass 1 billion people.

DON'T MIX 'EM UP DECIMALIZE EM ~ WRONG: "2 billion, 600 million" ~ RIGHT: "2.6 billion

DON'T DROP THE MILLIONS AND BILLIONS WHEN GIVING A RANGE, EITHER
Don't say "Bill Gates is worth between $35 and $40 billion" unless you really mean he's worth between thirty-five dollars and forty billion dollars.

ADDRESSES
If you're referring to a specific (i.e. numbered) address, abbreviate the words "avenue, (Ave.) "boulevard (Blvd.) and "street. (St.) All others are spelled out in all usages.
EXAMPLE:

The assailant was identified as Patrick Neal, 33, of 403 Seminole Ave.

If you're referring to a street generally, don't abbreviate it.

EXAMPLE:

The chase began on Seminole Avenue and continued on Oak Street. Officers apprehended the man when he attempted to hide in a dumpster behind a fast-food restaurant on Main Street.

If you refer to an intersection naming two streets with a common suffix, lowercase the suffix. If the two suffixes are different, capitalize them.
EXAMPLES:
~ The historic building, which is located at the corner of Fifth and Main streets downtown ~ The historic building, which is located at the corner of Fifth Street and Walker Boulevard

If a compass direction is used in an address, abbreviate it (N., S., E., W.) if you're talking about a specific address, but spell it out if it's general. (It's similar to the rule for addresses generally.)
EXAMPLES:
~ The assailant was identified as Patrick Neal, 33, of 403 N. Seminole Ave. ~The company's home office, which is located on North Pond Street, was picketed by disgruntled workers Tuesday.

NOTE: Always use numerals when you're referring to a specific address regardless of whether it's greater or less than 10. (This is one exception to the "numbers" rule.)
EXAMPLE: The home, located at 8 Cliffside St., was gutted by fire Tuesday after

ANOTHER NOTE: If the street names themselves are numbered i.e. "First Street," "Second Street," etc. spell them out from one to nine. Use numerals and ordinal letters for numbers 10 and above.
EXAMPLE:
According to the driver's statement, the truck's brakes began to malfunction on Eighth Street. The 18-wheeler then careened out of control, striking three other vehicles before finally overturning on a grass median on 11th Street.

HIGHWAY NAMES: Use the following forms, as appropriate in the context, for highways identified by number:
U.S. Highway 1
U.S. Route 1

state Route 34A (no hyphen when a letter is appended to a number)

Route 34 Interstate Highway 85 Interstate 85 (For the last two, I-85 would be appropriate on second reference.)

STATE NAMES
You should be aware that Associated Press state abbreviations and U.S. Postal Service abbreviations are completely different. Fortytwo states are abbreviated:
Ala. Conn. Ind. Mass. Mont. N.M. Ore. Tenn. Wis.

Ariz.
Ark.

Del.
Fla.

Kan. Mich.
Ky. Minn.

Neb.
Nev.

N.Y.
N.C.

Pa.
R.I.

Vt.
Va.

Wyo.

Calif. Ga.
Colo. Ill.

La.
Md.

Miss.
Mo.

N.H.
N.J.

N.D.
Okla.

S.C.

Wash.

S.D. W.Va.

Eight states aren't ever abbreviated

Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.

Generally speaking, it follows the same logic as addresses: If you're talking about a specific town and state, then abbreviate the state. If you're talking about a state in general, spell it out.
EXAMPLE: A native of Wetumpka, Ala., Billy Hawkins said that he has had a problem making the adjustment to New York life.

"You can't find any cotton-pickin' grits anywhere," he said

PUNCTUATION NOTE: Place one comma between the city and the state name, and another comma after the state name as shown unless it's at the end of a sentence.
EXAMPLE

A native of Wetumpka, Ala., Billy Hawkins says that he has had a problem making the adjustment to New York life.

REMEMBER THOSE EIGHT STATES: Those eight states are always spelled out, regardless of usage.
EXAMPLE:

Hawkins says he much preferred his time as a Texas resident. Hawkins moved to Utica, N.Y., from Lubbock, Texas, four years ago.
"No, they didn't have grits - but the barbecue was really good," he said.

MONTHS AND DATES

WHEN DO YOU ABBREVIATE, AND WHEN DO YOU NOT? Generally speaking, it follows the same logic as addresses and states: If you're talking about a specific date, then abbreviate. If you're talking about a month in general, spell it out.

7 months are abbreviated

Jan. and 5 months aren't March April

Feb.
Aug. Sept.

Oct.
Nov. Dec.

May
June July

EXAMPLES:
~ Candace Smith, who will graduate from Clemson in December, says she doesn't know what the future holds. ~ This year's winter commencement ceremony will be held Dec. 15 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

NOTE: DONT USE ORDINAL LETTERS ON DATES. When referring to a date, just put the number its "Jan. 28," not "Jan. 28th."

STRINGS OF THINGS: HANDLING SERIES

Omit the comma before the and at the end of a simple series WRONG: The prisoners were fed one meal of chicken, peas, and bread each day. RIGHT: The prisoners were fed one meal of chicken, peas and bread each day.

EXCEPTION: Retain that final comma if its a series of complex phrases especially phrases that contain conjunctions (and, but, or, etc.)
EXAMPLES: ~ "The coach said it was a matter of clean offensive execution, hard-nosed and skillful play by the defensive line, and exceptional hustle on the part of special teams." ~ The prisoners were fed one meal of chicken, macaroni and cheese, beans, and bread each day.

REALLY, REALLY complex phrases.

Sometimes individual segments will themselves contain material that also must be set off by commas. In those cases, use semicolons to separate those elements. EXAMPLE (from an obit): Survivors include a son, John Smith of Wheaton, Ill.; two daughters, Jane Smith of Wichita, Kan., and Mary Smith of Boulder, Colo.; and a sister, Martha, wife of Robert Warren of Omaha, Neb.

Commas in news copy

Use a comma at the end of a quote, before attribution.

EXAMPLE:

I wasnt home at the time, the man said.

NOTE: The two exceptions are quotes that end in question marks or exclamation points.
EXAMPLE:

Thats a durn lie! Davis shouted at the commissioner. Why would I lie about that? Smith responded calmly.

Put commas and all other punctuation marks inside the quote marks.
THESE ARE WRONG: ~ They should put it on the ballot, Smith said. The people should decide. ~ Ive been robbed! the man shouted. THESE ARE RIGHT: They should put it on the ballot, Smith said. The people should decide.

Ive been robbed! the man shouted.

NOTE: Dont use a comma in combination with an exclamation or question mark.

WRONG: Ive been robbed!, the man shouted.

Put a comma around ages and state abbreviations in text unless they fall at the end of a sentence.
EXAMPLE:

Patrick Neal, 38, of Toccoa, Ga., was driving on Cherry Road

As a rule, use commas in dollar amounts and all other numeric figures over 999.
EXAMPLES: ~ He earned $1,456 for the work

~ More than 2,400 people participated

NOTE: The exceptions to this rule include street addresses, broadcast frequencies, room numbers, serial numbers, telephone numbers and years.
EXAMPLES:

1405 Maple Drive

1430 kHz

Room 1402
886-8750

PHONE NUMBERS
Put the area code in parentheses, even for toll-free numbers, and put one space between the area code and the rest of the number, as shown.

~ (706) 886-7611
~ (800) 226-0692 If theres a specific extension involved, it looks like this:

~ (800) 226-0692, ext. 421

COURTESY TITLES
In general, omit courtesy titles Mr., Mrs., Miss., etc. on both first and second reference. Use only the last name on second reference.
EXAMPLE:

Clemson student John Doe was released from police custody Friday after he was cleared of indecent exposure charges.
Doe, 23, of Wetumpka, Ala., was originally charged with

SOME EXCEPTIONS: Dr. for physicians, legislative titles, religious titles and military titles are included on first reference but not on second and subsequent references. On subsequent references, use only the last names.

LEGLISLATIVE TITLES
On first reference, use Rep. for members of the House of Representatives and Sen. for members of the Senate on first reference. Use just the last name on second and subsequent references. (Dont use Congressman or Congresswoman.) Also, if it is pertinent to the story, indicate party affiliation as follows:

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said that he believed

(Note that theres no period after D and that the AP state abbreviation is used - and, again, remember those eight states that arent ever abbreviated.)

NOTE: Dont abbreviate legislative/government titles in direct quotes. While Rep., Sen., etc. may be abbreviated on first reference, youd spell out all of them in a direct quote.
EXAMPLE:
Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd was praised by several of his colleagues Wednesday. Senator Byrd has done something few other senators have done, Sen. Chuck Hegel, R-Neb., said of his counterpart from Virginia. Hes written a bill that even a non-lawyer can read.

ANOTHER EXCEPTION TO THE COURTESY TITLE RULES: If youre talking about two people with the same last name in the same story, then you might use courtesy titles to tell them apart. For example, lets say you were writing a feature story about Mr. and Mrs. Ed Jones:
I was just a kid, Mr. Jones said. I was ignorant in a lot of ways. It was a difficult time for our family, Mrs. Jones added. We were just getting started, and then this awful thing happens.

ANOTHER EXCEPTION: You may run into cases where more than two people have the same last name, and for a variety of reasons courtesy titles wont work. In that case, you may have to resort to first names to keep the quotes apart.

EXAMPLE:
Lets say you were interviewing members of the Brady Bunch: All of the Brady kids agree that their dad Mike is something of a sociopath. Hes a strange one, Peter said.

You said it, Bobby agreed.

Sometimes hell go days without talking, Jan said.

JUNIOR AND SENIOR

On first reference, abbreviate junior (Jr.) and senior (Sr.) if theyre part of an individuals name but dont separate them from the rest of the name with a comma.
WRONG: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said RIGHT: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said

TIMES OF DAY
When listing a time, a.m. and p.m. are always lowercased. Separate minutes from hours with a colon, and dont put an extra space. If youre talking about an even hour, omit the colon and minutes altogether.
EXAMPLE: The police were first called at 11 a.m., and officers arrived at the residence at 11:02 a.m.

Noon and midnight

Noon and midnight should always be spelled out. Dont ever use 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. However, it is acceptable to say 12:02 a.m. for two minutes past midnight, or 12:30 p.m. for half-past noon.

COMPANY NAMES
On first reference, use Co. but no comma when a business uses that word at the end of its proper name, as in Ford Motor Co.
The same goes for the following:

~ Corporation Corp.
~ Incorporated Inc.

~ Limited Ltd.

The Internet
Internet is always capitalized. The phrase the Net is acceptable on subsequent references. World Wide Web is also capped, and the Web is acceptable on subsequent references; Web page is also capitalized.
The terms website, webcam, webcast and webmaster are written as single, lowercased words.

Internet addresses
If an Internet address falls at the end of a sentence, use a period after it. If an address breaks between lines, split it directly before a slash or a dot that is part of the address and DO NOT USE A HYPHEN.
For example, the address mars.ucla.edu:

For more information, visit mars

.ucla.edu.

Animals
1. Dont apply personal pronouns to an animal unless its sex has been established or the animal has a name: ~ The dog was scared; it wouldnt stop barking.

~ Susie the cat ran to her basket.

2. For breed names, capitalize only words derived from proper nouns: ~ diamondback rattlesnake

~ German shepherd
~ Cheshire cat

Acronyms
It is acceptable to use acronyms in news stories if repetition of a long name would be unwieldy. As an example, lets say you were writing a story about Clemson University Parking Services. On first reference, youd spell out the full name and follow it with the acronym in parentheses. On second and subsequent reference, youd use only the acronym. So it would look like this: Clemson University Parking Services (CUPS) gets a bad rap from students. According to CUPS director Joe Blow, his department

Common odds and ends

~ The expression miles per hour should be expressed as mph (no periods) in all references. ~ Dont confuse over and more than. In other words, its wrong to say Over 300 people attended the conference. You would say More than 300 people attended the conference instead. (Over would only be used when an object is physically above another, as in The cow jumped over the moon.) ~ Always the word inches and feet for distances; otherwise, distances follow the general numbers rules in terms of spell out one through nine, use figures for 10 and above. ~ Dont use underway unless youre talking about a ship that has embarked upon a voyage. In all other instances as in The game got under way at 3 p.m. its two separate words. ~ Always use toward and not towards.