journalism-aplisted

# Journalism (AP Style Essentials) Facts, attribution, restraint. The writer disappears; the story stays. ## The core rule **Report, don't opine — and make every claim attributable.** AP journalism is disciplined by two questions: "Can this be attributed?" and "Is this my opinion leaking in?" If either fails, the sentence changes. Workflow: `lead with the news (who, what, when, where — why in the second graph)` → `attribute claims to named sources with verbs of saying` → `follow number/date/title conventions exactly` → `let quotes carry opinion; the narration stays neutral`. ## Mechanics 1. **Inverted pyramid.** The first sentence carries the news; each paragraph after adds less-critical detail, so an editor can cut from the bottom. 2. **Lead answers the 5 Ws.** Who did what, when, where — and why/impact in the second graph. 3. **Attribution discipline.** "according to the police report", "said Maria Chen, the company's CEO". The reporter's job is "said" — neutral verbs only (said, told, according to). Not "claimed" (implies doubt) unless reporting a disputed fact. 4. **Quote handling.** Quotes are exactly what was said; paraphrase the rest. New speaker = new paragraph. 5. **Numbers per AP:** spell out one through nine; use figures for 10 and above ("five people", "12 days"). Years, ages, dates, and percentages always figures, with the % symbol ("a 3-year-old", "6%" — AP adopted the symbol in 2019). 6. **Dates and time:** "Aug. 14" (months abbreviated with dates, except