5 updates in the 2013 AP Stylebook

The 2013 AP Stylebook has been published, packed with more than 90 new or updated entries as the de facto guide to news writing marks its 60th anniversary.

Before you flip through the nearly 500-page guide, which provides fundamentals for spelling, language, punctuation, usage and journalistic style, here are the most important updates to the revised edition:

1. Prohibiting “illegal immigrant.” In April, AP dropped illegal immigrant, creating both applause and controversy from the media, political leaders, and the Internet. “The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term ‘illegal immigrant’ or the use of ‘illegal’ to describe a person,” AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll wrote in a blog post. “Instead, it tells users that ‘illegal’ should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.”