The use of courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms.) and honorifics/styles (HRH, His Holiness, etc.) differs greatly among publications in both journalism and academia. The differences are based on tradition, practical concerns (such as space), and cultural norms. There is a continuum among publications between using no honorifics at all, using some honorifics but not styles, and using all honorifics, including styles. In certain cases honorifics and styles may be used according to some other pattern, or selectively only for certain persons. A courtesy title is a form of address in the British peerage system used for wives, children, and other close relatives of a peer. ... Mr. ... Mrs. ... Miss is a title, typically used for an unmarried woman. ... Ms. ... An honorific is a term used to convey esteem or respect. ... A style of office, or honorific, is a form of address which by tradition or law precedes a reference to a person who holds a title or post, or to the political office itself. ... HRH is an abbreviation for the style His Royal Highness or Her Royal Highness. ... His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935) His Holiness is the official style or manner of address in reference to the leaders of certain religious groups. ... To publish is to make publicly known, and in reference to text and images, it can mean distributing paper copies to the public, or putting the content on a website. ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ...

Titles, honorifics, and styles

Only some titles are honorifics. For example, it is customary to address people holding those positions as Alderman, Chairperson, or General Secretary; but these titles are not honorific. Other titles, such as Ma'am, Doctor, or Lord — and sometimes also Ms. or Professor—are both titles and honorifics. As a rough guide, an honorific can often stand alone or be prefixed to another title (such as Mr. Mayor, Madam President, or Rabbi) as terms of address, without an attached surname. A title is a prefix or suffix added to a persons name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. ... An alderman is a member of a municipal legislative body in a town or city with many jurisdictions. ... A chairperson is the political correct term for the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ... The term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... Madam or maam is a title for a woman. ... A lord is a male who has power and authority. ... Ms. ... A professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) (or prof for short) is a senior teacher, lecturer and/or researcher usually employed by a college or university. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbÄ«;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools (and among Sefaradim today) the sages...

A certain class of honorifics are known as styles. Styles are generally accompanied by a pronoun or article, pertain to holders of royal, religious, or political positions, and contain a descriptive term. The description attached within a style is of an attribute the holder of the style is purported to have. For example, "the Right Honorable John Smith" or "His Holiness Pope John XXVI." Styles are generally not thought of as titles. A style of office, or honorific, is a form of address which by tradition or law precedes a reference to a person who holds a title or post, or to the political office itself. ... A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. ... The Right Honourable (abbreviated The Rt Hon. ...

Comparison of publications

Wire services

• Associated Press: The AP does not use courtesy titles except in obituaries, direct quotations, or when a story on a family may cause confusion without the use of courtesy titles. Instead, using the first and last names on first reference and the last name on later references is preferred. The AP Stylebook advises that the first reference to a member of the clergy should include a capitalized title: The Reverend John Smith on first reference and Smith or the reverend on every reference thereafter. For popes, the AP advises Pope John XXVI on first reference and John XXVI, Pope John, the pope, or the pontiff on later references. For titles of nobility, the stylebook notes that "references to members of the notability in nations that have a system of rank present special problems because nobles frequently are known by their titles rather than their given names. Their titles, in effect, become their names." In general, AP prefers to follow their general guidelines, but uses the titles "Lord," "Lady," and "Dame." AP never uses styles except in direct quotes.
• United Press International:
• Reuters:

Newspapers Associated Press logo The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... A slightly outdated edition of the Stylebook The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, usually simply called the AP Stylebook and nicknamed the journalists bible, is the primary guide of style and usage for most newspapers and newsmagazines in the United States. ... The Pope (from Greek: pappas, father; from Latin: papa, Papa, father) is the head of the Catholic Church. ... Front of UPI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. United Press International (UPI) is a global news agency headquartered in the United States filing news in English, Spanish and Arabic. ... Reuters Group plc LSE: RTR NASDAQ: RTRSY is best known as a news service that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters. ...

• The New York Times: Stylistic concerns are governed by The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. Unlike most newspapers, the Times uses courtesy titles in news stories (but not in editorials or "light" stories, such as lifestyle or fashion): John Smith on first reference, Mr. Smith on later references). This applies even when the person holds a non-courtesy title: Mayor John Smith on first reference, Mr. Smith or the mayor on the second. The Times never uses styles except in direct quotes. For royalty, Queen Elizabeth is acceptable on first reference to Queen Elizabeth II, with the queen or Elizabeth II used on later references. Curiously, upon his death, Pol Pot was referred to as "Mr. Pol Pot," although this changed to "Pol Pot" approximately two weeks later. The reason given by an editor was that for the "reknown" (e.g., Stalin, Lenin), no need for a courtesy title was deemed necessary.
• The Wall Street Journal:
• The Times:
• The Guardian:
• The Los Angeles Times:
• The Globe and Mail:
• USA Today:

Magazines The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), (born on 21 April 1926), is Queen of sixteen independent nations known as the Commonwealth Realms. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with a worldwide average daily circulation of more than 2. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... The Los Angeles Times (also L.A. Times) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. ... The Globe and Mail is a large Canadian English language national newspaper based in Toronto. ... USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ...

• Newsweek:
• Time:
• U.S. News & World Report:
• The Economist:

Reference works The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Notable Time magazine covers from the dates May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... U.S. News & World Report is a weekly newsmagazine. ... The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication of The Economist Newspaper Limited in London. ...

• Encarta:
• Encyclopædia Britannica:
• Chicago Manual of Style:
• Bartlett's Familiar Quotations: Inconsistent usage. "George Noel Gordon, Lord Byron"; "Sir Thomas More"; "Elizabeth I"; "Francis Bacon" (not "Sir"). Most honorifics not used, and styles never.

Encarta is a digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft Corporation. ... 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelled with æ, the ae-ligature) was first published in 1768–1771 as The Britannica was an important early English-language general encyclopedia and is still... The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is a highly regarded style guide for American English, dealing with questions of style, manuscript preparation, and, to a lesser degree, usage. ... Bartletts Familiar Quotations, often simply called Bartletts, is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations. ...

Styles used sometimes

• The Nobel Prize Nobelprize.org. Style/honorific used in the biography of the Nobel Laureate the Dalai Lama. But no honorific used of (The Honorable) Jimmy Carter, (The Rev. Dr.) Martin Luther King, Jr., (The Rev. Archbishop) Desmond Mpilo Tutu [1].

• The Scotsman. One of the most, if not the most important newspapers in Scotland. E.g. Prince Charles styled in [2], but not in [3] or [4]. Styles in small minority of articles where potentially applicable. cf [5] and [6]. Notice that in both searches roughly half of the hits on first two pages are not applicable to this discussion.

• Pravda. Style used for Pope Benedict XVI in opinion column, e.g. [7], but not in news articles, e.g. [8]

• The Nation, Thailand. Style used only for King of Thailand (per Thai law), e.g. [9]; not for Popes [10] or foreign royalty [11]

• Times of Oman. Style used only of Sultan Qaboos bin Said (and other Omani royalty), but not of Saudi royalty in same article, e.g. [12]; nor of Catholic popes, e.g. [13]

• CNN. Styles generally not used, but sometimes in "human interest" section, e.g. His Holiness, referring to the Dalai Lama. Also here (but this looks like implicit quotation)

• That most British of all institutions, the BBC: Styles usually not used. E.g. somewhat encyclopedic bias of Queen Elizabeth II, Pope Benedict XVI, John F. Kennedy. Some "human interest" stories use styles for British royals, e.g. [14], [15].

• Two newspapers based in Brunei. See [16] and [17].

  Brudirect.com more commonly omits styles for foreign monarchs than includes them [18].

• Gulf Daily News Styles used of Bahraini royalty, e.g. His Majesty King Hamad, but not of foreign religious figures (e.g. Pope Benedict XVI) or royalty (e.g. Queen Elizabeth II or Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah).

Styles not used

• Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 3rd edition: Not used for Queen Elizabeth (I or II), John F. Kennedy, Pope Benedict (XIV or XV); looked no further.

• Websters New World Encyclopedia, First Prentice Hall Edition (based on 9th edition of Hutchkinson' Encyclopedia): Styles not used, not even mentioned in article body for QE1&II, JFK, JPII. Other honorifics used sparingly. Oddly, George Gordon Byron is described as "6th Baron Byron" (right after the name), but the phrase "Lord Byron" does not occur in article; however, Augusta Ada Byron is described as "daughter of Lord Byron" (as well as her math achievements, of course).

• Bartletts's Familiar Quotations, 16th edition (not an encyclopedia, but well known): Inconsistent usage. "George Noel Gordon, Lord Byron"; "Sir Thomas More", "Elizabeth I", "Francis Bacon" (not "Sir"). Most honorifics not used, and styles never.

• Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1972 edition: Styles never used, honorifics sparingly. Not used for Francis Bacon (mentioned six paragraphs into body). Likewise for various other "sirs". No honorific used for Thomas Jefferson, but described as "third president ..." in first sentence. Duc Francois De La Rochefoucauld, "...was known as the prince de Marcililac until..." (first sentence, but after semicolon).

• New York Times. Styles not used.

• The Times. Styles not used.

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Styles not used, other honorifics are. Does not use "Right Honourable" for Privy Councillors or "Royal Highness" for Princes, but does use "Sir" and "Lord Firstname," and peerage titles.

• Encyclopedia Britannica 2004, The Complete Home Library CD: Styles not used. JP2, QE2, Byron.

• Microsoft Encarta. Styles are not used. [19], [20], [21].