(WASHINGTON) D.C. residents took up online arms this week after the Associated Press Stylebook tweeted guidance Wednesday telling journalists to refer to the nation’s capital as “Washington” or the “District of Columbia” instead of the locally preferred “D.C.” or “The District,” according to NBC Washington.
The AP Stylebook functions as the style bible for journalists across the U.S., and residents of D.C. didn’t like the guidance because they felt “Washington” means the federal government or the coastal state in most people’s minds, not the 700,000-strong city itself.
While D.C. residents had some disagreements about how they identify the city, they all agreed “Washington” wasn’t the way to go. Residents of Washington state and the Pacific Northwest sounded off online too, agreeing with D.C. residents that the AP’s guidance doesn’t help clarify the difference between the state and the nation’s capital.
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