The reason the BBC seems so much more British than the CNN

Have you ever heard of a style guide? Style guides spell out the details of a particular organization or publication's writing style. The BBC has a published style guide that is actually really enjoyable to read. For example, the section on parts of speech is called "The bits that matter -- parts of speech." There is a lovely section called "Americanisms" that castigates Americans for their tendency to turn nouns into verbs: euthanize, authored, and miniaturized are offered as examples of this dubious trend. Now, perhaps I am alone in thinking this makes interesting reading, but have a look and see if the description of how to write in the "Basics" section doesn't make you smile.