These standards apply to our staff, editors, regular freelancers and, where relevant, contributors, commercial-content producers and technology partners. They are a public commitment and a working newsroom code. They do not eliminate judgement; they set the principles, checks and accountability through which judgement should be exercised.
1. Core principles
- Accuracy. We verify material facts and do not knowingly publish false or misleading information.
- Independence. Editorial conclusions are not purchased by advertisers, partners, sources, political interests or owners.
- Fairness. We represent material positions honestly, seek relevant responses and do not omit context in a way that creates a false impression.
- Transparency. We distinguish news, analysis, opinion, contributed work, press releases and paid content, and disclose relevant conflicts.
- Accountability. We correct meaningful errors, explain major changes and provide a clear complaints route.
- Proportionality. We weigh public interest against privacy, safety, dignity and the foreseeable harm of publication.
2. Accuracy and verification
Accuracy applies to headlines, text, quotations, captions, images, charts, social posts, newsletters and commercial content. Speed, competition and source status do not excuse avoidable error.
- Material factual claims should be checked against primary documents, direct sources or multiple reliable sources where practical.
- Statistics must identify the source, period, population, denominator and material limitation needed to interpret them fairly.
- A headline and social caption must be supported by the article and must not overstate certainty, causation or consequence.
- Rumour, allegation, estimate, forecast and confirmed fact must not be presented as though they carry the same status.
- If information cannot be independently verified but publication is justified, the limits of verification and basis of the claim should be made clear.
- Editors must challenge implausible claims, conflicts in the evidence and convenient anonymous assertions rather than merely reproducing them.
3. Sources, attribution and links
We attribute information to the originating source wherever doing so is safe, lawful and consistent with a confidentiality agreement. We prefer primary material and direct links over circular attribution to summaries. A link is not a substitute for accurately representing what the source says. Material from another publication must be fairly summarised, attributed and linked. We do not disguise rewriting as original reporting or reproduce a substantial part of another work without permission or a clear legal basis.
4. Anonymous and confidential sources
Anonymous sources may be necessary where information is important and the source faces a credible risk, but anonymity reduces the reader's ability to assess motive. Before granting it, the editor should know the source's identity, assess proximity to the facts, understand motivation, seek corroboration and agree what ‘off the record’, ‘background’ or another restriction means.
We describe an anonymous source as specifically as safety permits and explain why anonymity was granted when appropriate. We do not casually promise absolute protection against every legal or technical risk. A source relationship must be handled on a need-to-know basis.
5. Fairness and right of reply
A person or organisation facing a significant criticism, allegation or adverse finding should ordinarily receive a fair and timely opportunity to respond before publication. The request should identify the substance of the issue, allow a reasonable period in light of urgency and accurately reflect a relevant response. A refusal or failure to respond does not prevent publication. We do not give a subject a veto, disclose confidential sources without justification or submit an article for general approval. After publication, a credible correction or reply request is assessed on its merits.
6. News, analysis, opinion and commercial labels
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| News | Fact-led reporting in which unattributed personal opinion by the author is excluded. |
| Analysis | Evidence-based interpretation that explains significance while clearly distinguishing inference from fact. |
| Opinion | A named author's argument or judgement, edited for accuracy and standards but not presented as neutral reporting. |
| Interview | A question-and-answer or edited conversation; material editing or compression should not distort meaning. |
| Contributed | Material supplied by an external author and selected and edited by MBJ; relevant interests must be disclosed. |
| Press Release | Material substantially supplied by the issuing organisation and not represented as independent reporting. |
| Sponsored | Paid commercial content produced for or with an advertiser and clearly separated from independent journalism. |
| Partner Content | Commercial content connected to a named partner; the label does not transfer editorial ownership of the category. |
7. Corrections, updates and retractions
We correct errors promptly and proportionately. A request is judged by evidence, not by the prominence or commercial importance of the person making it.
- Minor edit — a spelling, formatting or style correction that does not alter meaning may be fixed without a note.
- Substantive correction — an error affecting meaning is corrected in the article with a dated note explaining the material change.
- Major correction — an error affecting the central premise is disclosed prominently and the corrected conclusion is made clear.
- Retraction — content that is fundamentally unreliable or unlawful may be withdrawn, with an explanation retained where lawful and appropriate.
- Update — new information is added with an updated timestamp or note where the change is material; an update must not conceal an earlier error.
We generally preserve the archive. Deletion is exceptional and may be considered for legal necessity, serious safety risk, disproportionate continuing harm, copyright breach or content that cannot be responsibly corrected.
8. Independence from commercial influence
Revenue supports the newsroom; it does not buy its judgement. Category partners, advertisers and sponsors may receive agreed branding, distribution and commercial-content services. They may not approve independent coverage, suppress legitimate reporting, demand favourable conclusions or require the exclusion of competitors from news coverage.
Commercial teams must not describe paid content as independent editorial. Editors may reject a commercial item that is inaccurate, irrelevant, poorly substantiated or harmful to reader trust, even where space has been booked.
9. Conflicts of interest, gifts and hospitality
- Team members and contributors must disclose financial, family, political, employment, advisory and close personal interests that could reasonably affect or appear to affect their work.
- A material conflict should be removed through reassignment, recusal or a clear disclosure to readers; disclosure alone does not cure every conflict.
- Cash, expensive gifts, personal commissions and benefits intended to influence coverage are prohibited.
- Reasonable event access, travel or hospitality may be accepted only when editorially justified, approved and disclosed where a reader would reasonably consider it relevant.
- Embargoed or confidential market information must not be used for personal trading or shared for another person's advantage.
10. Business and financial reporting
Business journalism can affect reputations, transactions and markets. We identify the status of figures—audited, filed, management-reported, estimated or forecast—and avoid presenting promotional metrics as established fact. Material financial interests held by an author or editor in a company being covered must be disclosed and may require recusal.
We do not trade or encourage others to trade on material non-public information obtained through editorial work. Sponsored investment, financial, gaming or property content must carry required approvals, warnings and risk disclosures and must not be framed as MBJ advice.
11. Privacy, dignity and public interest
Being able to discover information does not automatically justify publishing it. We consider the person's public role, relevance, consent, reasonable expectation of privacy, accuracy, vulnerability, passage of time, risk of harm and the strength of the public interest. Public interest may include exposing wrongdoing, protecting public health or safety, preventing the public from being misled, scrutinising significant power or explaining a matter of substantial economic or civic importance. Curiosity, embarrassment or traffic alone is not public interest.
12. Children and vulnerable people
We apply heightened care to children, victims, bereaved families, people experiencing trauma and others who may not fully appreciate the consequences of publicity. Consent from a parent or guardian is relevant but does not remove our independent duty to consider the child's best interests, safety and dignity.
13. Discrimination, harassment and harmful detail
We do not refer to race, nationality, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, health or another protected or sensitive characteristic unless genuinely relevant. We avoid stereotypes, dehumanising language and gratuitous detail. Reporting on suicide, self-harm, sexual violence, graphic injury or abuse should minimise avoidable harm and omit operational detail that creates a material imitation or identification risk, unless a compelling public interest requires otherwise.
14. Images, audio, video and graphics
- Visual material must not be staged, cropped, captioned, edited or selected in a way that materially misrepresents reality.
- Normal tonal, size and clarity adjustments are acceptable when they do not alter the factual content of a news image.
- Illustrations, reconstructions, composites, stock photographs and archive images must be labelled where their status would not otherwise be clear.
- Graphic or distressing material requires a clear editorial justification, proportionate presentation and an appropriate warning.
- We verify the source, date and context of user-supplied or social-media imagery before relying on it.
15. Artificial intelligence and automation
Technology may assist discovery, transcription, translation, summarisation, data analysis, copy-editing, headline options, workflow and distribution. It does not replace editorial responsibility.
- Every published article must have a responsible human editor who reviews the factual claims, sources, quotations, legal risks, labelling and final presentation.
- No system may be treated as a source for a fact it merely generated. Assertions must be checked against reliable underlying evidence.
- AI must not invent quotations, interviews, documents, statistics, events, people, credentials, images or source confirmations.
- Confidential, personal, embargoed or commercially sensitive information must not be entered into an external tool without an approved legal, privacy and security basis.
- Synthetic or materially altered images, audio or video must never be presented as documentary evidence. If used as illustration, the synthetic nature must be prominent and the use must not deceive or defame.
- A disclosure should accompany content where AI made a material creative or analytical contribution that a reasonable reader would consider important to understanding how the item was produced.
- Automated corrections, takedowns or high-impact moderation decisions should be reviewable by a person.
16. Plagiarism and intellectual property
We do not plagiarise. Words, images, ideas, datasets and investigations taken from others must be used under permission, licence or a valid legal basis and attributed appropriately. Press material may be quoted or used as a lead, but it must not be relabelled as original independent reporting.
17. Interviews and quotations
We identify whether a conversation is on the record before relying on it. Quotations may be trimmed for length or clarity without changing meaning. Material reordering, composite quotations or rewriting that creates words the speaker did not use is not acceptable. Where a translated quotation is used, the translation should preserve meaning and be checked proportionately to its significance.
18. Surveys, rankings, awards and data projects
A survey, ranking or award should explain material eligibility, methodology, sample, judging criteria, sponsorship and conflicts. A sponsor may support an initiative but may not secretly predetermine an editorial ranking or award outcome. Judges must disclose conflicts and recuse themselves where impartiality could reasonably be questioned.
19. Political and civic coverage
Business decisions are affected by politics and public policy. We scrutinise relevant parties, governments, regulators and candidates using consistent standards. News reporting should not be used to advance the personal political activity of a reporter or editor. Opinion is permitted when clearly labelled and factually responsible.
20. Complaints and accountability
Anyone may raise a factual, ethical or fairness concern through editorial@maltabusinessjournal.com. A complaint should identify the article, specific issue, requested remedy and supporting evidence. The Editorial Desk assesses the matter; a complaint about the Editor should be escalated to the Publisher or an appropriately independent reviewer.
Possible outcomes include no change, clarification, correction, reply, update, labelling change, removal, apology or retraction. We explain the outcome to the complainant where appropriate, subject to source protection, confidentiality and legal limits.
21. Applying these standards
Serious or repeated breaches may result in correction, removal from an assignment, ending a contributor relationship or other proportionate action. These standards are reviewed as the publication, technology and law evolve. The latest public version will appear on this page.