The Editor's Desk

No wombats were harmed in the writing of this post.

A tractor-trailer hauling wombats from Tulsa, Okla., to Colorado Springs, Colo., crashed at Woodlawn Boulevard and Mount Vernon Road this morning. The wombats’ whereabouts is unknown.

If that appeared in The Eagle, you would think we had lost our minds.

In earlier posts, I wrote about using the Associated Press Stylebook and why The Eagle has its own stylebook.

Sometimes, the two don’t agree. Most of the differences are idiomatic, but a few are based on local sensibilities. In all cases, though, our style takes precedence.

Here’s a couple of examples from the idiomatic side.

The AP says use semitrailer or tractor-trailer. We think simply saying semi works just fine. AP also says that Colorado Springs, Tulsa, Little Rock, Fort Worth and many others familiar to Eagle readers need a state name to follow the city name. Yeah, OK.

On the local sensibilities side, AP says “The preferred term is black. Use African-American only in quotations or the names of organizations or if individuals describe themselves so.” Our entry says, in part: “Black Wichita residents refer to themselves as both black and African-American, and The Eagle strives to reflect community practice by accommodating both terms. While black remains the preferred term in Associated Press style, African-American is more appropriate if the subject of the story prefers it or if the story ties black subjects to their African heritage.”

Another example is AP says mentally retarded is “The preferred term for those with significantly subaverage intellectual functioning.” Our style is to use mentally disabled or developmentally disabled.

There are many other differences, but you get the idea. The Eagle is a local paper and we endeavor to reflect our community.

Oh, and the paragraph at the top? In our style it would read:

A semi hauling wombats from Tulsa to Colorado Springs crashed at Woodlawn and Mount Vernon this morning. The wombats’ whereabouts are unknown.

— Michael