Time in AP Style: The exact time is rarely important.

Journalism > AP Style

If you need to use the exact time in a news story, AP has a specific way to do it. However, according to the AP Stylebook, the exact time of an event is rarely important in a news story.

How you use the time in an AP Style story.

• 8 a.m. (not 8am, eight in the morning, 8 o’clock, 8AM, or 8:00 a.m.)
• 10:25 p.m. (not 10:25 at night, or 10:25PM)
• noon or midnight (not 12 a.m.  or 12 p.m. — too confusing)

A time like 7 p.m. is enough. Don’t add “at night” or “:00”.

Why your story probably doesn’t need the exact time:

Who did what is usually much more important than the exact time and room number and the full name of the organization sponsoring the event.

Knowing how AP Style formats time is an important first step. But don’t automatically begin your news story with the date, time, and location of an event.

When is the exact time crucial? When is it just  clutter?

• a tunnel is closing for repairs (crucial)
• a big storm is on the way (crucial)
• feature about a new coach settling into his job (clutter)
• a poetry slam happened yesterday (clutter)
• narrating a complex series of partially overlapping events (crucial)