UPI has been producing stylebooks for more than half a century. Hundreds of UPI editors and reporters contributed to the many revisions of the book.

Strictly speaking, stylebooks are written to ensure uniformity in spelling, abbreviations, and punctuation – those matters in which writers have alternatives, but on which conformity must be reached. Over the years, stylebooks have been expanded to include rules of grammar, frequently misspelled words, misused terms, nomenclature and titles, and other entries that are not style matters at all, making the stylebook a quick all-purpose reference for reporters and editors in a hurry. Stylebooks also have been enlarged to include advice about another definition of style: the manner in which thoughts are transcribed in the written language, how the syntax flows.

In 1977, UPI and AP cooperated to produce a joint stylebook for newspapers. Bobby Ray Miller, a general news editor in New York, was UPI’s lead editor on that project. In 1992, Robert McNeill, style editor in Washington, did a major revision.

The latest update is by Senior Editor Bruce Cook and has been incorporated into the company’s computer system so it is available on-screen for the UPI staff. The new book includes dozens of computer and Internet terms. A special section of the book, produced and edited by Special Projects Editor Harold H. Martin, features reporting, editing, writing on various subjects and an inside look at how UPI reporters and photographers do their jobs – from sports to the White House. There are also sections on libel and codes of ethics. It is an informative, and at times amusing, look at our profession.