The AL DÍA Stylebook

Why a stylebook? Why us? Why now? Why ever?

While the AP stylebook codifies the conventions of English-language news media, and EFE’s Estilo Urgente focuses on processes and issues a handful of style rules for Spanish news media, neither satisfies the peculiar needs of the U.S. multicultural newsroom — much less a multilingual and digital-first one, like ours.

Think of the Internet as back-to-back press conferences, 24/7. Media organizations reporting and news-gathering in just one language, from one perspective, are there for the story, but what they’re getting and passing along to their audience is like something recorded off a single microphone, or like a visual that never moves. We, on the other hand, don’t rely on a solitary microphone, and our take is never unilateral. Sourcing in two or more languages, understanding the cultural nuances of multiple ethnicities, being particularly savvy to international news and anticipating the currents and trends of domestic news — we’ve got multiple “microphones” with multiple feeds and multiple perspectives .

Which is to say, AL DÍA is a unique news media company with a uniquely expansive set of challenges that we meet with an equally expansive set of practices and style choices.

Ergo, our own stylebook. Except, it’s a little bit stylebook, a little bit philosophy, a little bit game plan.