A.P. Story Screws Up A.P. Style

Midwest correspondent Stan Kost e-mailed the Proofreader earlier this week inquiring about a usage of the abbreviation "vs." in an A.P. article he'd read on The New York Post's Web site. "In paragraph five, is it appropriate to abbreviate 'versus' when quoting someone?" asked Kost in the message. "It looked a bit awkward when I saw that," he added.

It looks awkward because abbreviating the word versus in the body of an article is a deviation from ordinary A.P. Style. For writing purposes, the Proofreader typically adheres to New York Times style and, therefore, doesn't own an A.P. Stylebook. So, the Proofreader consulted journalist Carly Baldwin, a writer for Metro New York newspaper, for enlightening on A.P. Style.

In an e-mail message, Baldwin wrote the Proofreader and noted what an odd favor he was asking of her. Then, she quoted the following directly from her 2003 A.P. Stylebook:

Versus should be spelled out in ordinary style and writing. "The proposal to revamp Medicare, versus cuts to Medicare ...."

In short expressions, however, vs. is permitted: "The issue of guns vs. butter has long been with us."

For court cases, use v. "Marbury v. Madison."

Given that the abbreviation appeared in a 29-word quote, it's probably safe to say that the word should've been spelled out, a minor mistake to be sure, but a mistake nonetheless.

The Proofreader thanks Stan Kost for submitting the mistake and Carly Baldwin.

Copy Foul In A.P. Coverage of Iverson Signing With 76ers Story

N.B.A. malcontent Allen Iverson is always a lightning rod for media attention. So, it's no surprise that after announcing his retirement last week, then abruptly coming out of retirement this week to sign with his original team, the media are scrambling the fighter jets to be the first to break the story. As is often the case, that careless haste leads to copy mistakes.

This time the venerable A.P. is at fault for a copy foul. As you can see highlighted in the screen shot above, the second to last paragraph of this A.P. story on ESPN.com asserts that Iverson has a career average of 27 points and 6.2 points. Well, which is it?

Iverson's career points-per-game average is 27.0. Over his career he's averaged 6.2 assists per game.

Evidently, mistakes in the Iverson saga are not merely limited to the Philadelphia 76ers, who have erred by signing the fallen star. Even media coverage of Iverson has been mistake-riddled. This guy just brings out the worst in everyone.