I got an e-mail recently from a reader who noted that one of the universities in St. Louis is officially called “Saint Louis University” — yet the Post-Dispatch refers to it as “St. Louis University.” Why, she wanted to know.

Oh, it’s a bigger question than she might have expected. It goes to a subject known as “newspaper style.” Our “stylebook” helps us maintain some consistency when we write online and in print. Do we write “grey” or “gray”, for example? Do we spell out the number ten, or use numerals (10)? That’s where our stylebook comes in.

Courtney Barrett, the copy chief for the Post-Dispatch, elaborates:

The question about St. Louis University and other universities is one we get from time to time. The reasons for our style are several:

1. Space. Many words are easily understood as abbreviations, and the tradition of the newspaper industry has been to abbreviate them: Dr., Mr., Mrs., Sen., Rep., etc. This is particularly helpful in headlines, where space is limited. In general, such use does not cause confusion or diminish the status of the person or thing involved.

2. Time. Attempting to ascertain the “official name” or preference of a person or entity is not always possible. And with the shear volume of information that newspapers handle, the best practices guide has been to establish the fastest, fairest rendering and use it equally. Officially, Saint Louis University is in Saint Louis, Missouri, but we abbreviate all of it, including the city and the state. Some firms end with Company in their name and some with Co. We give Co. to all of them, because parsing them, nationwide, would be difficult.

3. In specific reference to the names of colleges and universities, very few newspapers, including campus newspapers, use official names in all respects. This is primarily because many universities are not known by their official name. It is the Pennsylvania State University, but many newspapers render it as Penn State. It is The Ohio State University. Seldom does it get the “the.” College of the Holy Cross is often rendered Holy Cross. Rutgers,The State University of New Jersey, turns out to be Rutgers. Virginia Tech is not the official name of the university that endured such tragedy. It is a long list.

If we could not abbreviate Saint in cities and universities, we would be unable to shorten University also. U. City and Washington U. would not do, but most people seem not to be confused when they see them.

Newspaper style is always subjective and, to some extent, arbitrary. For example, there seems to be no logical reason why medical doctors get Dr. before their names and those holding a doctorate in English Lit don’t. But there is a history to it.

No newspaper style is satisfactory to all. The aim is to serve the reader, and to have a style that is transparent and applied evenly. That is why the Saint Louis Zoo, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Saint Louis Symphony, Fair Saint Louis and the city of Saint Louis — important entities all — are abbreviated as St. And if there is a Saint Louis Auto Body out there or a Saint Louis Rib Shack, they are treated the same.