Meredith Donaldson- Journalistic Writing

I am in a writing for mass media class and an English composition class so I have to go back and forth between journalistic and academic style; the switch is quite difficult for me. Learning to not put a comma after the third item in a series is something I grew up doing so I forget to not do it. When I write in journalistic style I always look up what I write in the AP style book. I never do that for academic writing. In journalistic style the first paragraph is one sentence and you do not have to state a thesis. Growing up learning to write one way and then switching it all of the sudden is a challenge for me because it takes a while for me to become accustomed to change.