Updated AP Stylebook has new business entries

The 2018 edition of the Associated Press Stylebook released Wednesday contains new entries affecting business and economics news stories.

The new entries include:

LEED — An acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the rating system used by the U.S. Green Building Council to measure a building’s sustainability and resource efficiency. LEED is acceptable on first reference, but spell out and explain later in the story.

HIPAA — Where possible avoid using the term, which is an acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Instead refer to privacy laws or the federal law restricting release of medical information.

coworking — Sharing workspace and amenities, such as Wi-Fi, a printer, fax machine and the like, when people don’t actually work for the same company but instead are self-employed or remote workers. No hyphen for this use.

gig economy — Job-to-job employment with little security and few employment rights. Include a brief explanation in the text if used.

Gulf Cooperation Council — A regional bloc, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and representing Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Formed in 1981, the council makes economic policies across these Gulf nations and serves as a Sunni-led Arab counterweight to Shiite power Iran. GCC is acceptable on second reference.

Other business-related changes include smartwatch now being one word, WalMart in all uses, and AR is acceptable on second reference for augmented reality.