The bible.

(for journalism majors, anyway). 

from amazon

This book is both every journalism student's best friend and nemesis. Who wants to check everyday words like email  every time you use them, to make sure they're the Associated Press approved version? However, it is crucial to remembering all the weird little journalistic rules about numbers and dates. Because, unfortunately, you can be a great writer, but you can't get hired unless you can write their way. There's just not enough time to train people when hundreds of journalism majors are out scrounging for jobs -- quite ferociously in the current climate.

So, while every student may get sick of having their AP style corrected, and every editor may despise having to look something up for a third time that day because they forget the politically correct term for Native American (which seems to change weekly, much to our chagrin -- the editors and the Native Americans), it really is a useful book. So useful, it seems, that copies often go missing from the newsroom...except our mentor's copy, because who could steal from that sweet old guy? (Who helps us for gratitude and the occasional pizza).

Its even useful to non-journalism majors, as many may not realize. Journalistic style is decided with the masses in mind  -- unlike other styles like Chicago, APA and MLA, which are almost exclusively academic. This means it is based upon achieving the most readable product. So there's some sense for other writers to check it out. Inside you can find the most current common usage of terms, ways to make your writing more concise, and just a lot of things to make you appreciate all the strange little things the people who write -- and edit -- your daily paper have to remember.

I'll admit, I like my AP style guide. Especially, as my former co-editors have shown, it makes kind of an awesome Halloween costume.

Gold Star to anyone who thinks the term Amerind is complete bollocks.