What happens when the world’s “premier digital media company” lets its staffers loose without direction? This happens: The writers and editors for Yahoo! News can’t make up their collective minds about a simple abbreviation. They can’t decide if they should follow the Associated Press style for Ph.D, which they do here:
Or nearly follow it here:
Or just use the style listed in the American Heritage Dictionary:
Or make up something completely wrong:
This is what happens when a “media” company doesn’t have a style guide or even a preferred authority on style. There’s a lesson for all of us, even those like me who are the only writer on a hobby blog: Pick a style guide or dictionary or other authority and stick with it.
