AP Stylebook Entry: Photo Captions

PHOTO CAPTIONS

Nearly all AP captions follow a simple formula:

* The first sentence of the caption should follow this structure; the first clause should describe who is in the photograph and what is going on within the photo in the present tense followed by the city and state where the image was made, following AP style for the city and state as appropriate. Captions must give attribution for action not seen (e.g. the scene of accident where more than 10 died, according to police). The last portion of the first sentence should be the date, including the day of the week if the photograph was made within the past two weeks, and preceded by a comma. (e.g., Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008). These three elements are MANDATORY and no caption is complete without all of them. Names should always be listed in order, left to right, unless it is impossible for the caption to read normally otherwise. With multiple people identified within the caption, enough representations to placement are necessary that there is no confusion for who is who.

* The second sentence of the caption is used to give context to the news event or describes why the photo is significant. While a second sentence can be illuminating, it also has the potential to create problems and is often where errors can be found. A photo caption's second sentence should be carefully crafted to include information from the text wire story when appropriate or additional relevant observations from the photographer on scene. There may be some instances when a second sentence is not needed. Many sports photos taken during a game or match, for example, do not require a second sentence; nor do photos from some ongoing news events. Most daily pictures of the president do not need a second sentence either.

* Whenever possible, try to keep captions to no more than two concise sentences, while including the relevant information. Try to anticipate what information the reader will need. Any non-publishable information in the body of the caption should be set off by dual asterisks, (**) both before and after the highlighted information.

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE STANDARD AP CAPTION:

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., delivers his policy on Iraq speech, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007, in Clinton, Iowa. Obama called for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq, with the pullout being completed by the end of next year. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

FOR HANDOUT PHOTOS (provided or released by governments, armies, companies or other official sources):

In this image released by the Milk Processor Education Program, actress Glenn Close is shown in the latest ad for the National Milk Mustache got milk? Campaign. (AP Photo/Milk Processor Education Program)

The caption should begin with In this photo released by, followed by the name of the providing body.

The name of the releasing body is then repeated in the photo credit: (The name of the releasing person or organization should be translated according to AP style, where applicable.

The special instructions header field should contain the following; AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO TO BE USED ONLY TO ILLUSTRATE NEWS REPORTING OR COMMENTARY ON THE FACTS OR EVENTS DEPICTED IN THIS IMAGE.

ALL handout images from ANY source MUST, as a final step, be examined carefully in Photoshop by at least two editors on the handling regional photo desk. If there is any doubt about the integrity of a handout image, it should not be transmitted.

DO NOT use DESCRIPTIVE OVERLINES such as:

1. SAFE AT SECOND-For a baseball play at second base, or PRESIDENT ADDRESSES WOMEN-For a presidential speech to a women's group. Regular captions have NO overlines.

INSTRUCTIVE OVERLINES will be used in the following cases:

1. For FILE PHOTOS the word FILE will be the OVERLINE.

Example: FILE – Johnny Depp is shown in London, in this Jan. 10, 2008, file photo. Depp won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his role in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", announced, Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

2. For ADVANCES the OVERLINE is the word ADVANCE and the RELEASE DATE. Do not use story slugs or writer's name in the OVERLINE.

Example: **ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND MAY 15-16** Sean Smith, a fish culturist at Vermont's new fish hatchery in Grand Isle, Vt., one of the Lake Champlain islands, moves young rainbow trout on May 4, 1993, to a new tank. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

3. For SPECIALS the OVERLINE should be the word SPECIAL and the name of the publication. Do not use the authorizing editor in the OVERLINE. Also, if the city is not part of the formal title of the publication's name, add it. Put SPCL in the subcategory field of the NAA/IPTC header.

Example: **SPECIAL FOR THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER** Diana Holmes participates in the second day of the 66th annual National Spelling Bee in Washington Thursday, June 3, 1993. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

4. For EMBARGOED photos the OVERLINE should be the word EMBARGOED with the RELEASE TIME and DATE. Also, add HFR (Hold for Release) in the SUPPLEMENTAL CATEGORY field of the NAA/IPTC header for embargoed photos for same day release.

Example: **EMBARGOED UNTIL 1 P.M. EST, SUNDAY, DEC. 10, 2006** This undated handout photo provided by the Census of Marine Life shows a Kiwa hirsuta, the Yeti crab, a new species found near Easter Island. (AP Photo/Ifremer, A. Fifis)

If the date when the photo was made is unknown, state "date of photo unknown" in the body of the caption and in the INSTRUCTIONS field of the NAA/IPTC header.

The SIGNOFF for an AP staffer or stringer is, in parentheses, AP Photo followed by a slash and the name of the photographer. Don't use str or stf. Example: (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer). If the name of the photographer is not known or needs to be withheld, the signoff is: (AP Photo).

MEMBER PHOTO SIGNOFF: (AP Photo/USA Today, Anne Ryan). Put MBR in the BYLINE TITLE field of the NAA/IPTC header.

HANDOUT PHOTO SIGNOFF: (AP Photo/General Motors). If photographer is known: (AP Photo/General Motors, John Smith).

POOL PHOTO SIGNOFF: (AP Photo/Bill Waugh, Pool). For pool photos, do not name the newspaper or agency that shot for the pool in the caption signoff. However, put the name of the organization that shot the pool in the Source field, after the word POOL, for example, POOL AP. The BYLINE TITLE field of the NAA/IPTC header should contain the word POOL. The Instructions field should also say POOL PHOTO.

SPECIALS PHOTO SIGNOFF for photo shot by AP: (AP Photo/Al Smith). If made by member's own photographer: (Chicago Tribune Photo/Bill James).

FILE PHOTO SIGNOFF: (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File). If the name of the photographer who shot the file photo is not known the signoff should be: (AP Photo/File)

AP GRAPHIC SIGNOFF: (AP Graphic/Karl Tate).

HANDOUT GRAPHIC SIGNOFF: (AP Graphic/AccuWeather, HO).

TV FRAMEGRAB PHOTO SIGNOFF: (AP Photo/CNN)

MANDATORY CREDITS, OUTS, CORRECTION INFORMATION should always appear in the caption box and should be set off by twin asterisks. Corrective information is placed before the caption, credits and restrictions are placed after the signoff. This information must also appear in the INSTRUCTIONS field of the NAA/IPTC header. When necessary in the caption box, they appear AFTER the signoff.

HANDOUT PHOTOS: The use of handout photos requires the release of the copyright holder when known. The AP provides access to handout images only for the editorial use involving what is depicted within the image. All handout photos will be accompanied with the following text in the Special Instructions.

AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO TO BE USED ONLY TO ILLUSTRATE NEWS REPORTING OR COMMENTARY ON THE FACTS OR EVENTS DEPICTED IN THIS IMAGE.

A List of Job Sites

• Job Hunt Sites for Journalists: http://www.kokedit.com/library_CE6.shtml
• Berkeley Job Listings: http://journalism.berkeley.edu/jobs/list/jobs/
• SPJ Job Links: http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/journalism-job-links/
  
• Newspaper Job Sites: http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/2009/07/newspaper-jobs.html
  
• JournalismJobs.com: http://www.journalismjobs.com/Search_Jobs_all.cfm
  
• Journalism Jobs UK Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/journalismjobs
• MediaBistro: http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/
  

Book Editing Resources

Here are some Book Editing Resources

• http://bookjobs.com/
• Pineapple Press in Sarasota: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&ved=0CBsQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pineapplepress.com%2F&ei=BJ4GTODFB8H-8Aa6ocDyCw&usg=AFQjCNGzfGJK3a83qNz8i_rIrxAHZBxOlA
• The Maupin House in Gainesville: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&ved=0CBYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maupinhouse.com%2F&ei=PJ0GTMuLBsT68Ab7rp3mCw&usg=AFQjCNH3iGsrm19mmrkFm7o7ycTXJLr_iw
• Atlantic Publishing in Ocala: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CBoQFDAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fatlantic-pub.com%2F&ei=Y50GTKigFMT58AaYs_iQDA&usg=AFQjCNHWgEimXMPttKUBtcJJf5oNoGcnmA
• http://www.mediabistro.com/Book-Publishing-jobs.html
• http://jobs.publishersweekly.com/
• The Publishing Institute: http://www.du.edu/pi/
• The Realities of Jobs in Publishing: http://chronicle.com/jobs/2004/06/2004061101c.htm

EDIT 4.1 CRITIQUE

Some comments on your critiques:

I would say read the bogus trend stories linked on syllabus and then think about this story once again. This article makes me want to believe that inner-city violence between females exists, but also that it dropping because police say so. The conflict of interest between what was being said by the teenagers and the police confused me. A follow-up or replacement story could include interviews with the girls regarding why they think violence exists and how they would react to it, rather than hearing information from bureaucrats about a drop in violent attacks.

You have a sense there is something wrong here, but have not quite identified it: I’m not sure what to think about the article on girl violence. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have thought anything remarkable about the article if I’d read it as a stand-alone.
I suppose it could be playing up the violence of a few crimes to get a story out of it. Despite an overall trend of decreased female violence, it insists on focusing on the extreme outcomes. It even cites one attack, saying “such extreme brutality remains rare.”
The reporter may be struggling to make a mountain out of a molehill or has written the story too broadly for a detailed look at the rise in girl cliques. To focus the article, it would be nice to have one consistent perspective we could jump back to, such as a single victim or official. As it stands, it’s too broad.
Other than playing up one specific angle, I don’t notice anything too unusual about this piece.

Shows you are thinking like a focused, critical thinking editor. Yes! And I like the note re cosmic!!! This story, I feel, is a good example of a reporter trying too hard on a slow news day. The angle is somewhat vague, the information not heavily substantiated. Frankly, I fail to see how this topic is new(s). Girls, boys, men and women have been beating up each other since man came on the scene. And, the most glaring omission: The writer doesn't even source or quote anyone who runs with a female posse that is meting out group beatings. This is the story's biggest fault, and it could make the reader question the validity, relevance and importance of the story. I know I did. Also, the writing style borderlines on sensational. And as far as the sourcing and facts in the story go, the writer presents two contradictions: First, violent crime among women is up, according to teenagers, street works and youth advocates. But the story then goes on to quote Boston police as saying that violent crime among girls has fallen since 2005. As a journalist, not only is your job to report the news, but also to synthesize and analyze the news in such a way that is easily digestible to the everyday reader. The writer fails in this regard. The writer says the reason Boston police claim violent crime among women has decreased is because the victims are either afraid to tell authorities, or the injuries not severe enough to be noticed. This argument Is flawed. First, if the victim is beaten badly enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, this could very well lead to a doctor reporting the crime instead of the victim. Second, if the beatings aren't bad enough to cause noticeable harm, is this really a big enough issue to warrant an in-depth story? Finally, there are a few angles the writer could have use that would make this story more interesting or more “cosmic.” What is the trend of violence among women nationwide? How does it compare to Boston? A second, more cosmic angle could be to address the culture of violence among women. When did it start? When did it become a serious issue? What are the sociological, cultural and historical implications? Is it isolated to the United States, or is it prevalent in other countries, too?

Yes!! Shows you are thinking like a focused, critical thinking editor.

What’s being asserted here is messed up feminism. The shock at women being capable of violence in almost the same capacity as men, specifically how women can’t pull the trigger the way men can, runs throughout. But I still feel like I don’t understand what’s going on. So there is an increase in violence but the reasoning for the fighting seems flimsy. And the quotes are there, but more is needed to make this story feel complete. This story also asserts a lack of police intervention. But if this is as prevalent as the article seems to claim wouldn’t police have seen these roaming groups of violent women jumping people? Or is the article claiming the police shirking their duties just because the subjects are women? Female gangs are certainly a new thing, but the presentation feels off. And the portrayal of women seems to limit the depth of women’s feelings to good is nice and bad is mean. The story is novel in the statistics but the gender element is certainly played up. The numbers, particularly in the number of examples, are off and the article tries to spin them in another direction.

I disagree with this argument - journalism is a kind of rough empiricism.
I like the story because it looks like the writer went to the street and asked people about female violence instead of relying on police reports and statistics. I really like this approach because statistics can show certain trends, but sometimes they are not correct. In this case, statistics say that attacks by girls have decreased. However, the reporter finds a lot of people who thinks the opposite.