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BBC Guide to Editorial Programme Metadata

BBC Programme description style guide vs3.1- Radio PT June 2017 BBC Copyright © 2017 of 18

1.0 Introduction

These guidelines are about writing programme billings to the editorial standards required by the BBC. They should be used by production staff who are creating billings and by editorial users preparing them for publication. Their aim is to ensure that billings do justice to the programmes they describe and provide a trustworthy source of information for viewers, journalists and other users. The guidelines are in three parts:

Context and responsibilities

Content – what to include in a billing and how to present it

Style – some key points of English language style 1.1 Context

A billing is an audience-facing synopsis included on a programme’s billing form – a mandatory document created for each programme also containing its title, credits, transmission details and some technical information. Completed by the programme’s production office, billings forms are widely circulated – to magazines, newspapers, listings bureaux, electronic programme guides (EPGs), websites and similar users, who may need to edit the synopses for space. A billing is an essential that every publisher will demand, and it will represent the programme to a wide audience for a long period of time – when it is repeated or made available online and on demand, and also on the BBC programmes website. EPGs will usually display a succinct description of up to 20 or 25 words, even if the listener can click through to the full billing. Print titles and websites will turn to the billing to inform their listings as well as longer pieces such as features and highlights. All billings should be able to stand alone as a rounded introduction to a programme and should not assume prior knowledge or that audience have access to billings from earlier episodes. After all, they may come to a brand for the first time at any point in the series – not just at the beginning of series 1. When only a later series is available on catch-up, an interested person should not be obliged to do further research to make sense of the billings that accompany the current series. So billings must give the context as well as episode-specific detail. In short, a billing is one of the primary ways in which the audience discovers content. Correctly written, it will encourage good listings and attract audience. 1.2 Responsibilities

The production office is responsible for the accuracy of the information in a billing which it provides – both the description of the programme itself and any references to real people, places and events.



2.0 Editorial Guidelines – Content

Most people will scan billings only quickly before making a decision of whether or not to listen. These guidelines remind writers and editors of how to ensure that billings are nevertheless effective in satisfying the interested viewer’s need for programme information. 2.1 A billing must set viewers’ expectations correctly by accurately encapsulating the programme it describes. 2.2 A billing should be well written, so that the viewer can absorb its content effortlessly without being distracted by flaws or ambiguities in the text. 2.3 The style of billings should be reportage, the tone objective, so that viewers and journalists come to rely on their content. Reportage does not imply dry or lifeless copy. On the contrary, through its qualities of being well written and informative, a good billing will always make a good programme sound interesting, whatever its mood.

Prof Brian Cox sheds light on M-Theory, which may explain where the universe came from and how it works. Have scientists discovered the holy grail of physics sought by Einstein?

Classic sitcom about an excruciatingly inept hotel proprietor. Basil is on edge from the moment he hears that a hotel inspector is in town. Then he learns about his waiter Manuel’s pet rat.

2.4 As in the second of the examples above, omitting a verb, especially in the opening sentence, is a common and legitimate style in billings and listings. 2.5 For the benefit of those new to a brand, a billing must convey the genre of the programme it describes – drama series or serial, sitcom, particular kind of factual programme and so on. The genre may often be evident from the brand title – Money Box, or a universally recognised soap such as The Archers – and in those cases, the job of establishing the genre takes care of itself. Similarly, the synopsis of a factual programme will often establish the genre beyond doubt – a report from a warzone, for example. But otherwise the synopsis should state the genre explicitly. This is always true in the case of dramatised formats whose titles do not imply a genre and whose billings are otherwise about plot. The Bridge, The Fall and The Missing are cases in point. A reminder of the format and the point that the storyline has reached will not trouble viewers familiar with a series, but it is essential for new audiences 2.6 A billing should open with a statement about the programme rather than its subject matter. Statements of fact – It takes ten years to train as a GP; The British Empire was at its greatest extent at the start of the 1920s – force people to read on in order to discover what the programme is about, whereas a good billing will get straight to point before providing background for those who want it. Those interested can then decide to listen without having to read the whole billing. 2.7 Listings editors subbing billings for space must ensure that as many topics or guests as possible are retained in shortened listings.



2.8 An episode title is not invariably displayed by EPG platforms, so crucial information (such as the subject of a documentary or the teams in a sports competition) should not be relegated to the episode title. 2.9 Billings should be written so that they can be easily subbed, to enable print titles, online guides and EPGs to derive listings of various lengths from the same synopsis. If the original billing is difficult to sub or ambiguous, the editor has a greater chance of introducing an error or incorrect emphasis. 2.10 Descriptive words have their place but must not sound subjective. They should strike viewers and critics as true, not as telling them what to think. An ambitious natural world programme may well be breathtaking, a drama troubling, but a comedy should not be billed as absolutely hilarious or an interview as brilliant. 2.11 Episode synopses should not be littered with acting credits but should focus on genre and plot. Actors’ names appear separately in a cast list. The same goes for production and technical credits. People who do belong in synopses are presenters, guests, panellists, singers and similar performers, other contributors who appear on camera, opera directors and sports commentators. 2.12 Billings dealing with controversial issues must never pre-empt the findings of the programme but should describe the topic being covered in language that is free of bias. 2.13 A billing should not refer to viewers in the second or third person. It jolts the reader into an awareness that they are being addressed by you the writer when their attention should be wholly on the programme content. 2.14 References to events which are contemporary at the time of the first broadcast should be worded so far as possible to read well at a future date. This does not mean avoiding phrases like on the eve of or even live, since it is easy to realise that what was live coverage is now a live recording. But references to this week’s or tonight’s episode are unhelpful when a programme is later made available on catch-up or episodes are repeated at different intervals or a different time of day. 2.15 Beware of geographical references that may not mean the same to all readers. A billing referring to recent flooding in the north of the country will mean different things to viewers in England and Scotland, let alone to the audience of BBC in New Zealand. 2.16 Use politically correct language and be aware that standards can change. Not so long ago, Aborigine was widely used to mean an Indigenous Australian, but the former term is now considered offensive by some. Check online, as printed authorities can go out of date well before being reprinted. Similar sensitivity is needed when mentioning disability. It is extremely important to avoid defining a person by their disability. The government’s Office for Disability Issues1 offers a list of terms to avoid and to use. These issues are a consideration in dramatised as well as in factual programmes. It is all too easy to imagine a website carrying a film synopsis from a few years back that refers to a mental institution. Take care also to use whichever term is the most appropriate where there are closely related ones – blind people, partially sighted people, people with visual impairment.

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-communication



2.17 Summary

These requirements already demand a lot of the billings writer – catering for a wide audience, getting the right balance between background and episode-specific information, saying enough to make sense and not so much that you start taxing the reader, and, of course, avoiding spoilers. From a billing that gets it right, readers will pick up all they need to know at a glance. Every listing should be a transparent window on to the programme and its subject matter. One final practical consideration worth mentioning is that many EPGs have limited space for programme titles, so it is worthwhile keeping them succinct. So far, this guide has been about the content of programme billings and the listings derived from them – about the message we want to give the viewer. The section below is about the medium – the language in which the message is captured and achieving a good, consistent style.



3.0 English Style Guide Unlike the languages of many other European countries, English style is driven by usage. Dictionaries collect and study countless examples of written English and accept new spellings and new meanings of words when they become widely used, just as they acknowledge the legitimacy of dropping initial capital letters on some words which they themselves list with a capital. This is not always immediately evident, as dictionaries will often save space by listing a word with their preferred spelling while acknowledging the legitimacy of an alternative style within the definition or in a separate article – like Oxford’s on the handling of compound nouns. Here already is a situation which calls for some serious choices to be made by anyone publishing anything to a wide audience. But, in addition, some newspapers have modernised their approach to style on a range of issues, not least by dropping initial capitals from job titles, among other things – on the grounds that complex rules for what and what not to capitalise become unnecessary and the text looks less cluttered while meaning is unaffected. Compass points are another topic which generally becomes easier to handle with this approach. Spelling some acronyms as words (NATO becoming Nato) was another modernising development. But the combination of the language’s innate flexibility with this modernising sweep now obliges publishers to make so many style decisions that every publishing house and newspaper needs its own substantial style guide. This is a summary of the approach to be followed when writing and editing BBC programme synopses. It aims to achieve an uncluttered and readable style that helps readers focus on the content of the billing (what it says about the programme) rather than on the writing itself and the myriad small style choices entailed (of which the reader should be unaware). In particular, we want synopses to look good on screen, whether lists of names and occupations in a Question Time billing or the food and drink mentioned in the synopses of cookery programmes. 3.1 Using a Dictionary For spelling, check this guide first and then default to Oxford online – but use –ise and not –ize whenever there is a choice. (Oxford and Cambridge are advocates of the z.) Using an online dictionary is important, because the spelling of many simple words will change before a new edition appears in print. This is particularly true in the case of compound nouns of two syllables with an initial stress (hitman, shortlist), of which there are many. Unless awkward-looking combinations of letters arise, they will tend over time to become one word rather than remaining two separate or hyphenated words. Spelling as one word often helps the reader get the correct stress (shortlist – with the emphasis on short, as opposed to short list, with equal emphasis), and this is particularly true if the two words would fall on separate lines. For that reason, when Oxford recommends two words for these two-syllable compounds, check Collins online to see if it allows one and follow it if it does. The two dictionaries often agree, but when one has decided on the one-word spelling, the other is likely to follow in due course. These general rules for spelling take precedence over Oxford. Similarly, the following guidelines for punctuation and other aspects of style override other authorities.



3.2 A to Z of Style These notes summarise preferred style where there are legitimate alternatives but assume the writer is aware of correct style when alternatives do not exist. 3.2.1 Abbreviations are written as single words without full stops (Dr Finlay, the Rev Smallbone). No distinction should be made between different types of abbreviation. (The two examples above would be treated differently in some styles because one preserves the first and last letter of the original word while the other is a truncation.) The use of upper and/or lower case also makes no difference. And while American English and other languages that use the roman alphabet use full stops, our style does not. There no comma between a name and a following abbreviation, only between multiple abbreviations (John Smith QC, MP). An abbreviation is only followed by a full stop at the end of a sentence. The abbreviations eg and ie are not followed by a comma (as they would be if translated into English and written out in full) but, like all other abbreviations, are written as though they were words. Similarly, there are no full stops when weights and measures are abbreviated (3lb, 50kg, 763mph, 1,000V) other than at the end of a sentence. (See also: Initials) 3.2.2 Acronyms Strings of initials pronounced as words are spelt with just an initial cap (Fifa, Nasa, Unesco). The original style of using caps throughout is now abandoned. When initials can be pronounced as letters or acronyms, one style should be chosen and followed consistently (VAT). 3.2.3 American Spelling In two cases the question of whether or not to retain American spellings may occasionally arise. When they occur in the names of places and buildings, American spellings should be retained (Pearl Harbor, Rockefeller Center). But job titles, being lower case, can be anglicised (the British and US defence secretaries). If the Department of Defense and the defence secretary ever appear in the same billing, both can be anglicised. American spellings in programme titles, books or other artistic works should, of course, be respected (The Color Purple; Boston Harbor at Sunset). 3.2.4 Ampersand Use the ampersand in abbreviations where and would otherwise be the longest word (B&B, R&B). No spaces or full stops. Retain when an organisation uses an ampersand in its name (Marks & Spencer/M&S, P&O). Only use in programme titles when it is a deliberate and permanent feature of the brand (Will & Grace). Some websites give an incorrect steer, and jacket art can be inconsistent. There is no obligation to attempt to reproduce in text the tricky typography or effects deployed in



opening credits, any more than a writer would refer to theguardian because it currently has a two-tone, lower-case masthead, or the FILM review on the BBC News channel because its logo mixes upper- and lower-case text (over three lines). Similarly, an ampersand should not necessarily be used in print just because there is one on screen. Never use an ampersand instead of and in running text. 3.2.5 Apostrophes The possessive singular of words ending in s is formed normally – by adding apostrophe s – except in the case of ancient, biblical and classical names ending –es. Anything that looks clumsy can easily be avoided by rephrasing. This rule gives: Arkansas’s capital, Burns’s verse, Camus’s philosophy, Dickens’s novels, Dumas’s heroes, Hopkins’s poetry, Jesus’s teachings, Jones’s school days, Keats’s odes, Margaux’s wines, Marx’s theories, Menzies’s companies, Ness’s pursuit of Capone, Paris’s left bank, Radio Times’s circulation, the species’s survival (singular), Surtees’s racing career, Wales’s rugby team, Willis’s bowling, the witness’s story. but: Euripedes’ dramas, Moses’ mother, Ramses’ tomb, Sophocles’ trilogy, Xerxes’ leadership. Exceptions: an apostrophe is nowadays considered superfluous in the phrase Achilles heel, and an apostrophe only is used in the phrase for goodness’ sake. Generic apostrophes may be singular or plural – there is no right or wrong way of writing a beginner’s guide, a girls’ school. Be led by whether there is a suggestion of an individual or a crowd. An alternative style sometimes dispenses with the apostrophe (a visitors book – by analogy with a user manual), but in running text the apostrophe usually looks better (a visitors’ book). Place names and the names of anniversaries and institutions need checking individually, as the preferred style can be adjectival (like the Sports Council) or a generic singular or plural possessive: Actors Studio, April Fools’ Day, All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, Caesars Palace, Citizens Advice bureau, Designers Guild, Diners Club, Horse Guards Parade, Ladies Day (Ascot), Lloyds (bank), Lloyd’s (insurance market), Lord’s cricket ground, Lytham St Annes, Queens’ College (Cambridge), the Queen’s College (Oxford), Reuters, St Albans (Hertfordshire), St Andrews (Fife), St Davids (Pembrokeshire), St Helens (Merseyside), St James’ Park (Newcastle United’s ground), St James Park (Exeter City’s ground), St James’s Park (London), St Thomas’ Hospital (Lambeth), Valentine’s Day. Plural names ending in s form possessives In the usual way: Harrods’ opening hours, Reuters’ editorial policy. Retain the apostrophe in quantitative expressions that are possessive in form: a day’s pay, a week’s time, three weeks’ leave, a million pounds’ worth. An alternative style dispensing with the apostrophe is sanctioned by some authorities.



In the phrase each other’s, the apostrophe can equally correctly precede or follow the s. Use the style shown here simply for consistency. Only one apostrophe is needed in a combination like Morecambe and Wise’s comedy. The apostrophe generally has no place in forming plurals: the 1960s, the 60s, a group of MPs and three grade As are correct. (Some authorities prefer the ’60s when the century is omitted.) The apostrophe is used only in the plural of single lower-case letters: dotting i’s and crossing t’s. 3.2.6 Capitalisation

(See also: Classical Music and Compass Points) Titles of people Job titles, however important the role, are lower case, even when used with reference to a particular individual: the archbishop of Canterbury, the astronomer royal, the bishop of York, the chancellor of the exchequer, the chief constable, the foreign secretary, the leader of the opposition, the lord chancellor, the managing director, the master of the queen’s music, the president-elect, the prime minister, secretary general, the US secretary of state. Titles are capped only when prefixed to a name as a form of address: President Obama, but the 44th US president, Barack Obama. Two types of apposition are equally acceptable. You can write the foreign secretary, Lord Palmerston, took action with commas and a definite article before the office, or foreign secretary Lord Palmerston took action without commas or the article. The former preferable when the title is longer than a couple of words. Only prefix titles to a name when this sounds natural, as with lord, president, professor, ranks in the armed services and so on, and only cap them in that scenario. BBC News, Oxford and Associated Press are consistent in not capping the e when president-elect is prefixed to a name in this way (President-elect Trump – which would otherwise be written US president-elect Donald Trump, as in BBC director general Tony Hall). Exceptions to the lower-case rule only for hereditary titles when used in full – the Duke of York, the Prince of Wales (otherwise the duke, the prince) and for the reigning monarch – the Queen. Avoid clashes of style. Write either the Queen and Prince Philip or, on subsequent mentions, the queen and the duke. Title of programmes and artistic works In programme titles and the titles of books, paintings, pieces of music and other artistic works, capitalise the first word and all other words in the title except articles, prepositions and conjunctions: Escape to the Country, The Story of Hinduism in Britain, The Catcher in the Rye. Capitalise foreign language titles according to the conventions of the language in question. If a French title begins with a definite article (Le, La, L’), do not cap the second word unless it is a proper



noun: Le rouge et le noir is correct. (An alternative style caps the second word under some circumstances, but the suggested style is used in reportage in French.) Titles of institutions and events Capitalise the titles of institutions (including specific departments), battles and treaties and similar historical events, special days in the calendar, eras and laws. Articles, prepositions and conjunctions are lower-case: the Department for Work and Pensions, Human Resources, the Battle of Waterloo, the Peterloo Massacre, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, the Jurassic, the Broadcasting Act.

Definite article

In running text, always use lower case for the, unless it is the first word of an artistic work such as a programme, a book or a painting. Use lower case for the name of a publication – editor of the Times. The only exception is the place name The Hague.

Geographical features Cap desert, river, mount and mountains when the words appear in a name (Colorado Desert, River Wye, Mount Vesuvius, Rocky Mountains). Plants and animals Routinely lower case. Cap only proper adjectives or nouns that modify a generic term to identify a particular breed or species (Arctic skua, Australian magpie, California scrub oak, Eurasian scops owl, Florida scrub jay, German shepherd dog, King Charles spaniel, Pacific oak, Yorkshire terrier). Do not cap common names even when they are derived from proper nouns (alsatian, great dane, labrador, pekinese, rottweiler). The sporting life In cricket and rugby, Test is always capped (a Test match, the First Test). Individual championships within the Olympics and Wimbledon are lower case (the men’s 1,500m, the ladies’ singles final). Words based on proper nouns Adjectives and common nouns derived from proper nouns are lower case when the connection with the source word is no longer relevant (wellington boot) or when the lower-case version of the word has a different meaning (bohemian, byzantine, machiavellian, philistine, platonic, stoic). The general rule is to favour the down style. Food: bakewell tart, beef stroganoff, black forest gateau, brussels sprout, caesar salad, cheddar, cornish pasty, cumberland sausage, french bread, french fries, lancashire hotpot, scotch broth, scotch egg, stilton, swiss roll, welsh rarebit, wensleydale, yorkshire pudding. Cap the adjective in Chinese takeaway. Drink: Routinely lower case the names of wines and grapes: barolo, bordeaux, burgundy, chablis, champagne, chardonnay, rioja. Ditto scotch. Other terms: caesarean (section), chinese whispers, dutch courage, french polish, french window, german measles, italic script, pasteurise, spoonerism, venetian blind. Miscellaneous lower case



Artistic movements apart from proper nouns (abstract expressionism, art deco, art nouveau, fauvism, impressionism, pop art, pre-Raphaelite, surrealism, symbolism), centuries, medical conditions apart from proper nouns (Epstein-Barr syndrome, Parkinson’s disease but german measles – see above: Words Based on Proper Nouns), seasons of the year.

3.2.7 Collective Nouns A plural verb often reads more naturally with sports teams (India are top of the league), but otherwise be led by the sense. There was a couple in the corner would convey quite a different meaning with a plural verb. The choice will often hang on whether the reference is to the group as a whole or the individuals it comprises: the committee have failed to agree among themselves, the committee is made up of professional and lay people. 3.2.8 Colons A colon separates the primary and secondary elements of a programme title (Cricket: First Test). Colons should not be allowed to pile up. Switch to a dash to mark off a third element in a title (Cricket: First Test – Day One). The colon has a specific role in listings that contain strand titles, separating the title from a following description. It also looks better in this context than a full stop if strand titles are numbered: News magazine, including Culture Vulture: A round-up of arts news. The Sporting Life: The latest from the world of sport. Contemporary writers on their literary forebears. 3: Auster on Poe and Hawthorne. Novelist Paul Auster reflects on Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne as the first writers to attempt to create an American voice in writing. Note again that colons are not allowed to pile up. To aid readability on screen or in the densely packed medium of print listings, a full stop is the best separator of short blocks of text. Note also that a colon never follows including when a list follows. The latest live action from the Olympics, including 2.00 Swimming: Men’s 400m freestyle. 2.30 Athletics: Men’s 1,000m relay.

3.2.9 Commas Use the comma when justified by the structure of the sentence. It will then serve its sole purpose of aiding readability. In reportage, optional uses of the comma are few and far between. It is usually either essential or simply out of place. Do not use the serial comma in simple lists. Write a, b and c – not a, b, and c. The latter style is common in American English but in British English is nonstandard, though it is preferred by Oxford University Press, giving the comma its other name – the Oxford comma.



Do not comma-separate two halves of a sentence whose structure is He goes somewhere and does something. Plenty can be added to this framework without the need for a comma: French detective Julien Baptiste travels to Iraq to investigate the disappearance of schoolgirl Sophie Giroux and is unprepared for what he finds. Exactly the same applies if the and is changed to but. The structure is: Jean travels to Iraq and/but is unprepared for what he finds. Only use a comma if the verbs have different subjects (Julien travels to Iraq, but his quarry is hard to find) or if you use a pronoun with the second verb (Julien travels to Iraq to follow a lead in the case of missing schoolgirl Sophie Giroux, but he ends up being captured by Peshmerga soldiers). Use a comma after a subordinate clause which precedes a main clause. In some contemporary fiction this comma is dropped, but it aids readability and should be retained in reportage: When the team realise the implications, they race to the crime scene. There are several ways of punctuating a dependent clause in the middle of a sentence. The team race to the crime scene, but when another call comes through, they realise that they have been tricked. A more traditional approach would insert an additional comma after but. Another option is to move comma before but to after it (in which case the pronoun they should be dropped before the verb). Of the three versions, the first is widely used and advocated by some leading style books. It is a good style for reportage because it follows the cadences of the sentence and avoids an additional punctuation mark which, while correct, begins to clutter the text. Sometimes, a slightly more complex sentence like the original can be effective in building tension into a plot outline. However, uncomplicated constructions aid readability, and the original sentence could be rewritten to avoid the comma question: The team race to the crime scene, but another call comes through en route, suggesting that they have been tricked. Use a comma after an introductory word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence, including dates: First, the contestants face a quickfire round. Gradually, the furore begins to die down. After a while, the cubs tire and return to the den. On 14 October, the battle began. As noted in the section on initials, there is no comma between a name and a following set of initials – only between multiple sets of initials: John Brown MP Jane Smith QC, MP 3.2.10 Compass Points Lower case for compass points when used to indicate direction or to refer to loosely defined areas (the north of England, west London, south Wales) and geopolitical and cultural concepts (eastern Europe, the west, western music). Cap only in proper place names – continents, countries, states, regions and counties, including districts (London’s East End and West End) and the North Pole and South Pole. A mix of upper and lower case can look acceptable (the Midlands and the north of England, the southern states and the Midwest). Lower case also for northerner, southerner etc (and for the film genre western).



In Britain, compounds are familiar from the government style for road signage as two words. Style guides and dictionaries vary. Collins and the Times favour a closed style (northwest), Oxford and the Guardian a hyphen (north-west) for the noun and adjective. BBC style is the open form, with compounds always written as two words (London and the south east, north east Scotland), but retain alternative styles in official place names (Canada’s Northwest Territories).

3.2.11 Contractions In speech, contractions are natural – I’ve, you’ll, he’d and so on. In writing, and particularly in reportage, they usually look lazy and should be avoided. The only exceptions are well-known phrases, where to expand the contraction would look odd: A round-up of what’s on in the cinema. The guests were a veritable who’s who of Hollywood A-listers. As it turns out, the new model is not all it’s cracked up to be. You know what they say: if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

3.2.12 Diacritics

(See also: Classical music) In billings and listings generally, accents should be omitted from foreign or borrowed words – their omission rarely affects readability and, if it does, the effect is only momentary (cafe, fiancee, Milos Forman). This is a legitimate style in English, but the primary reason for adopting the style is to avoid diacritical marks corrupting on end platforms. It is an issue which may gradually go away. Other languages which share the roman alphabet do tend to respect one another’s diacritics. In the meantime, omitting accented characters also saves space in short EPG synopses, as most diacritics count as an extra character.

3.2.13 Ellipses Avoid the punctuation mark … if possible, but if it is used for dramatic effect, attach the three dots to the word they follow without a space (see what happens next…) – otherwise there is a chance that the dots will appear at the beginning of a line on an EPG. Ellipses can end a sentence and in that position are not followed by a full stop. 3.2.14 Forward Slash Use an oblique stroke between adjacent years (the 2014/15 season), between seasons (autumn/winter collection) and between alternatives (and/or, either/or, Odysseus/Ulysses). Otherwise, use a hyphen to link two nouns (singer-songwriter, city-state, parent-child relationship).

3.2.15 Hyphens – 1: Prefixes at the beginning of words Hyphens account for a great deal of variety in spelling. In the absence of a useful steer in these notes, check Oxford and Collins and use an unhyphenated spelling when one of them allows it.



The general rule for words that begin with a prefix is not to hyphenate except to avoid a double e or double i: antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, antiterrorism, autoimmune, autopilot, coeducation, coexist, cooperate, coordinate, intergalactic, minibreak, minibus, miniseries, mishandle, mishit, multi-instrumentalist, multimillionaire, neonatal, nonstop, overambitious, overreact, overripe, polytheism, postnatal, postwar, preassemble, pre-empt, preindustrial, preorder, prewar, reappearance, re-entry, reinvent, reoccupy, semibreve, semicolon, semiconductor, superefficient, transatlantic, uncooperative. Exceptions Occasionally a hyphen distinguishes different meanings: co-op and coop, re-creation and recreation, re-form and reform, re-present and represent, re-sign (sign again would be better) and resign. anti- is hyphenated in anti-American, anti-British, anti-Christian etc, as well as before i. co- is hyphenated in co-author, co-driver, co-editor, co-founder, co-own, co-pilot, co-production, co-opt, co-sponsor, co-star, co-worker2. mini- is hyphenated in mini-roundabout. mis- is hyphenated in mis-sell. semi- is hyphenated in semi-conscious, semi-detached, semi-final as well as before i. The dictionaries are currently agreed that full time operates as a normal compound noun – hyphenated only as an adjective (full-time scores) – but all currently suggest that half-time should be hyphenated as a noun as well as when used adjectivally. 3.2.16 Hyphens – 2: Compound nouns

Compound nouns used adjectivally do not need hyphenating (current affairs series, film noir director, pop music concert, secret service agent) unless the second word is a present participle (decision making, decision-making skills; horse riding, horse-riding competition). Check with the dictionary, as many compounds are written as one word and are therefore never hyphenated (beekeeping, stargazing, watchmaking). Proper compound nouns are not hyphenated as adjectives (Gulf War veteran). Genres like action adventure and drama documentary do not need hyphens as nouns or adjectives (comedy drama series). Dishes that use nouns adjectivally are not hyphenated: chicken and vegetable pie, blackberry and apple crumble. Ages are hyphenated as nouns (a class of five-year-olds) and adjectives (a 15-year-old boy), and a hyphen marks an abbreviated expression like 60- and 70-year-olds.

2 Some authorities hyphenate cooperate, but that suggests a hyphen in uncooperative, which would make unco-

look like a prefix.



(Fractions: see under Numbers) 3.2.17 Hyphens – 3: Adjectival phrases Also referred to as compound adjectives, strings of words used adjectivally are hyphenated according to the parts of speech they contain and whether they come before or after the noun they describe. Despite variations between different authorities, the following styles are widely accepted. Adjectival phrases without adverbs are hyphenated before or after nouns, though some work only before3: adjective + noun: 19th-century country house, second-round match, third-floor flat adjective + noun + the suffix –ed:4 able-bodied, even-handed, ill-fated participle + noun: cutting-edge technology noun + adjective: computer-literate, labour-intensive noun + noun: profit-loss statement adjective + participle: fast-moving, high-ranking noun + participle: flower-filled, French-speaking number plus noun: 200-page summary phrases ending with a preposition: unheard-of occurrence Adjectival phrases with adverbs fall into two groups. Those with –ly adverbs are never hyphenated (finely tuned engine). Those with non –ly adverbs are hyphenated before a noun but not after (well-made car but the car was well made). When a submodifier is added, the hyphen is dropped if the only the adverb within the phrase is modified (a less well known composer; the least well regarded member of the group) but retained if the phrase as a whole is modified (a very warm-hearted person; a wholly ill-conceived plan).

Phrases of three of more words are hyphenated before a noun (higher-than-anticipated costs, up-to-date report) but not after (the costs were higher than anticipated, the report is up to date) unless the phrase is always hyphenated (the reply was very matter-of-fact).

Abbreviated expressions: A hyphen indicates the omission of text in phrases like low- and high-quality goods and best- and least-known politicians. Compare expressions of age groups such as five- and six-year-olds, mentioned above.

Phrases comprising foreign words are not usually hyphenated when used adjectivally (cordon bleu cookery, de facto regime, fin de siecle art, per capita cost). 3.2.18 Initials Write sets of initials, like other abbreviations, as single words. This saves space in EPG synopses but far more importantly also prevents A J ending a line and P Taylor starting the next, should a name like AJP Taylor crop up in a listing with the initials spaced. The closed style should always be used.

3 You can write next-door neighbour, but in reverse the grammar changes, as you can see in the unlikely

sentence Is your next-door neighbour next door now? The unhyphenated next door is an adverb. 4 This looks like a past participle, but a glance at the second word in each case shows that they are not derived

from verbs. Many compound adjectives are formed in this way.



3.2.19 Inverted Commas Use in three situations only – and always single (same key as the apostrophe), not double (which can give rise to technical issues on some platforms). Do use when a nickname is embedded in a name (Paul ‘The Owl’ Hawthorne), when a piece of classical music has a nickname (Symphony No 7, ‘Leningrad’)5 and when citing a quotation (Urban legends expert David Emery explains why JFK did not make a gaffe when he declared ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’). Do not use to highlight that a word has a figurative meaning (blue for the mood as well as the colour; down whether a direction or a feeling), and do not put around the titles of artistic works – capital letters will suffice (the BBC adaptation of Little Dorrit; the network TV premiere of Birdman). 3.2.20 –ise/–ize Use –ise. The main practical reason is that the majority of British publishers prefer it. Doing so also simplifies spelling, leaving only one word – capsize – as an exception (whereas if z is favoured, several words becomes exceptions obliged to retain the s). 3.2.21 Numbers Basic style: Write one to ten as words, 11 upwards as numbers (like Radio Times). Commas mark off thousands other than in years, of course (1,500m, £100,000 but the year 1500). Use numbers throughout for a list which would otherwise mix words and numbers (children aged 1 to 11; somewhere between 5 and 500). Large numbers that are approximate should be styled three million, 11 billion (or 3m and 11bn to save space). Do not start a sentence with a number unless essential for space in a short EPG synopsis. Exceptions to basic style: Always use numbers for dates (14 October 1066, 480BC, the 3rd century AD), for numbered parts (chapters, episodes, parts, rounds and series), for pieces of music (Sonata Op 2 No 1; Symphony No 4), in a mathematical context (the square root of -1), and for house numbers (inside No 10). Respect a particular style adopted in a book or film title (George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four). Particular cases: Use the style number one to mean exemplary (a number one hit; the world’s number one tennis player; a number one bestseller) and similarly number two to mean a deputy (his trusty number two). As noted above No 10 for a house number. Use the style Top 10 for music charts. Below the Premiership and the Championship, the football leagues are League One and League Two. Arabic v Roman style: Use Roman numbers when they feature in a programme title, so that the title matches what appears on screen, but always include a space before the number (Back to the Future Part II; Jaws 2). Roman numbers also for listed buildings, which are Grade I or Grade II in England and Wales (Grade A, Grade B etc in Northern Ireland and Scotland). Arabic style for Associated Board music exams (Grade 1 Piano).

5 But only when the nickname follows the piece title in a listing. Otherwise, refer to Shostakovich’s Leningrad

Symphony, Beethoven’s Pastoral and so on.



Billion/Trillion: A billion means a thousand million (10⁹) and a trillion means a million million (1012). (In past Br usage each term meant something considerably larger.) Currencies and units of measurement: Follow basic style (three miles, five euros, 50 dollars, 1,000 volts) but use numbers without a space when the unit of measurement is abbreviated (3lb, 50kg, 1,000V) unless the unit of measurement is a compound term (22 sq metres or 22 sq m). Dates: No punctuation or superscripts (1 February 1965). Numbers for centuries (Athens in the 5th century BC; 5th-century Athens; Britain in the 21st century; 21st-century Britain). Centuries are never capped. Decades: Words for the ages of people (men and women in their fifties). Numbers for periods of time, usually with the century for clarity (the 1950s; 1950s London), without punctuation if the decade alone is given (the 50s). Epithets are written out and capped (the Roaring Twenties; Swinging Sixties) or follow a unique style associated with the event (9/11 for the 2001 attacks on the United States and 7/7 for the July 2005 bombings in London). Decimals: Write as numbers, with a zero before values under 1 (3.5 in every 10,000; 4.5-billion-year history of the Earth; 0.5 per cent or 0.5% of the population). Fractions: Single-word fractions form unhyphenated compound nouns (half hour, quarter mile, eighth note) but are hyphenated as compound adjectives (half-hour appointment, quarter-mile jog). Compound fractions are internally hyphenated (three-quarters; two-thirds), but there is no hyphen between a whole number and a fraction (two and three-quarters) unless used adjectivally (a two-and-a-half-year saga of mismanagement). Ordinals: As per basic style, write first and tenth then 11th, 12th and so on (Paxman gave up after his 14th attempt). Numbers look inelegant in literature but are usefully eye-catching and space-saving in synopses. Times: When mentioning times in a synopsis, use a 12-hour clock with full points and with two digits for the minutes but (unless the programme runs over 12 hours) without am and pm (1.00, 11.05). 3.2.22 Place Names Place names are widely translated from one language to another. In English, the original spelling is generally retained where the anglicised version has no marked effect on pronunciation – so write Lyon and Marseille, for example, without a final s. Most authorities, however, currently recommend Hanover as the English spelling. Check place names that may have changed. Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, for example, have superseded Madras, Calcutta and Bombay. Note: Shetland is also referred to as the Shetland Islands but not the Shetlands.



3.2.23 Semicolons Semicolons have no place in reportage other than to subdivide lists of items already internally punctuated. Even then the style can usually easily be avoided: David Dimbleby’s guests are Conservative chief secretary to the Treasury David Gauke, Labour MP Chris Leslie, leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron, chief executive of the Timpson chain of shoe repair shops John Timpson, and professor of economics at the University of Sussex Mariana Mazzucato. This looks better on screen than a version using semicolons, which would give: David Dimbleby’s guests are David Gauke, Conservative chief secretary to the Treasury; Labour MP Chris Leslie; Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats; John Timpson, chief executive of the Timpson chain of shoe repair shops; and Mariana Mazzucato, professor of economics at the University of Sussex. Plot lines should always be separated by commas or full stops – never by semicolons: Phil talks candidly about his situation to Billy. Kathy comes up with an idea to help the Beales with their financial woes. Kyle receives some exciting news. 3.2.24 Trademarks In the following list, the terms with an initial cap are trademarks that cannot be used generically. Simply changing the initial cap to lower case does not avoid a potential breach of copyright. Generic alternatives are given in brackets. Entries without an initial cap are not an issue. If in doubt about other terms, rewrite. Anaglypta, Anglepoise, Ansafone (answerphone), Autocue (teleprompter), Biro (ballpoint pen), Cashpoint (cash machine), cat’s eye, cornflakes, Dictaphone, Elastoplast (plaster), fibreglass, Filofax (personal organiser), Frisbee, Formica (plastic laminate), Hoover (vacuum cleaner), Jacuzzi, Jeep (four-wheel drive), Jet Ski (though Oxford and Wikipedia suggest that jet ski is a generic term), Jiffy bag (padded envelope), launderette, Muzak (listed as lower case by Oxford and regarded by Wikipedia as a genericised term) (piped music), Outward Bound (the BBC News website reports that there is a court order about the use of this term, so use a paraphrase such as adventure training), Perspex (acrylic sheet), Plasticine (modelling clay), Polaroid, Portakabin ([trans]portable building or accommodation), Primus stove (portable cooking stove), Rawlplug (wall plug), Rollerblade (inline skates), Sellotape or sellotape (sticky tape or adhesive tape), Technicolor (multicolour, multicoloured), Thermos flask (vacuum flask), Tupperware (plastic food container), Vaseline (petroleum jelly), Velcro (fabric fastening), Zimmer frame (walking aid).

3.2.25 Classical Music

The BBC Classical Music Style Guide is available separately.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5502tHkydk5jPhvGwFq6SnX/classical-style-guide



Summary

These English language guidelines are based on the Red Bee Media style guide, which draws on Red Bee’s many years of experience as the face of BBC programme listings to the press. It was compiled at the BBC’s request and in consultation with the BBC metadata team. This new version has reviewed the original guidelines, noted changes in the two main dictionaries on which it relies (Oxford and Cambridge) and checked some details against the BBC News style guide – published online since the original style guide was written. It has also revisited several excellent style guides published by, among others, the university presses of Cambridge, Chicago and Oxford, Associated Press, the Guardian, the Economist and Wikipedia. Between them, they offer a wide range of views, sometimes converging and sometimes disparate. For that reason, and to continue the process of learning from our own experience as we seek to optimise the quality of our editorial programme metadata, this guide itself will need to remain responsive to the dynamic nature of English language usage and style.

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