Citation in AP style journalism?

Question

I'm writing feature articles and trying to adhere to AP style, but I'm not sure how to attribute a source. I'm familiar with academic citation (APA, MLA), but have never done this in journalism.What's the preferred way to completely acknowledge a source? Quotes I can do, but stuff from sites, other sources, etc baffles me.

Answer 1

Good question! I’ve been writing magazine features for outlets like Harper’s, National Geographic, and The NYT Magazine for almost 25 years. The big difference is that in journalistic writing, you identify your sources in the text as opposed to doing it in a footnote or in parenthetical citation. Additionally, citing your sources in a piece of journalism generally doesn’t require as much formality or detail. For example, if you’re quoting a line or a stat in an article, you generally don’t need to cite things like, say, a page number or book publishing house. Usually referencing the author’s name, expertise or title, and some nod to whatever outlet (book, article, website, etc) you’re pulling the information from will suffice. These days, with most publications appearing online as well, some citation work can sometimes occur via imbedded hyperlinks as well.