ASTHO
Press releases should always spell out the organization's name in full the first time it's used, followed by the acronym in parenthesis.
Authority
ASTHO Style Guide follows the Associated Press Stylebook unless otherwise stated.
DATELINES
Datelines appear at the beginning of stories and include the name of the city in all capital letters, usually followed by an abbreviation for the state, territory, or freely associated state in which the city is located.
Dateline should be italicized and separated by an em dash with no space on either side.
WASHINGTON—Today, four state health officials…
ARLINGTON, VA—Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) member…
CITIES
The Associated Press Stylebook lists 30 U.S. cities that do not need to be followed by the name of a state:
ATLANTA
BALTIMORE
BOSTON
CHICAGO
CINCINNATI
CLEVELAND
DALLAS
DENVER
DETROIT
HONOLULU
HOUSTON
INDIANAPOLIS
LAS VEGAS
LOS ANGELES
MIAMI
MILWAUKEE
MINNEAPOLIS
NEW ORLEANS
NEW YORK
OKLAHOMA CITY
PHILADELPHIA
PHOENIX
PITTSBURGH
ST. LOUIS
SALT LAKE CITY
SAN ANTONIO
SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO
SEATTLE
WASHINGTON
STATES AND ISLAND AREAS
Use U.S. Government Printing Office abbreviations when a state, territory, or freely associated state is required in the dateline.
AL (Alabama)
AK (Alaska)
AS (American Samoa)
AZ (Arizona)
AR (Arkansas)
CA (California)
CO (Colorado)
CT (Connecticut)
DE (Delaware)
FM (Federated States of Micronesia)
FL (Florida)
GA (Georgia)
GU (Guam)
HI (Hawaii)
ID (Idaho)
IL (Illinois)
IN (Indiana)
IA (Iowa)
KS (Kansas)
KY (Kentucky)
LA (Louisiana)
ME (Maine)
MH (Republic of the Marshall Islands)
MD (Maryland)
MA (Massachusetts)
MI (Michigan)
MN (Minnesota)
MS (Mississippi)
MO (Missouri)
MT (Montana)
NT (Nebraska)
NV (Nevada)
NH (New Hampshire)
NJ (New Jersey)
NM (New Mexico)
NY (New York)
NC (North Carolina)
ND (North Dakota)
MP (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)
OH (Ohio)
OK (Oklahoma)
OR (Oregon)
PA (Pennsylvania)
PR (Puerto Rico)
PW (Reoublic of Palau)
RI (Rhode Island)
SC (South Carolina)
SD (South Dakota)
TN (Tennessee)
TX (Texas)
UT (Utah)
VT (Vermont)
VI (U.S. Virgin Islands)
VA (Virginia)
WA (Washington)
WV (West Virginia)
WI (Wisconsin)
WY (Wyoming)
Republishing a Partner's Press Release
Occasionally, ASTHO will republish a press release written by or with a partner or an affiliated organization, in these cases use the following guidelines, but work with PR to finalize formatting, as press releases fall under their purview.
Update
- Dateline formatting (i.e., if they are using a different format for their dateline).
- Brand copy at the end of the press release (this comes after the centered ###). Make sure to include ASTHO, and if multiple orgs are listed, it is appropriate to move ASTHO to the top of the list.
- Links to any comparable information on ASTHO.org, if appropriate or applicable.
-
Example: When republishing a partner press release on COVID-19, change any partner links to general COVID resources on their site and direct them to ASTHO.org's storehouse of general COVID resources.
Please note that there may be exceptions (e.g., if the partner in question is CDC).
Do Not Update
- Language in the body of the press release, unless:
- It is to correct small grammatical or spelling errors.
- To make sure links are compliant with accessibility best practices.
- Dateline content (e.g., do not change WASHINGTON to ARLINGTON, VA unless specifically instructed to do so)