Editorial Standards

Our editorial mission

We aim to publish clear, accurate, and neutral local reporting that helps residents and visitors understand what is happening in Sliema and why it matters. We avoid sensationalism, prioritise practical relevance, and try to give readers the context they need without unnecessary noise.

House style

Sliema News writes in British English for a Maltese audience. The rules below keep headlines, scores, names and dates consistent across the site.

Spelling and vocabulary

• Use British English: organise, prioritise, recognise, apologise, centre, metre, defence, programme (but computer program), labour, behaviour, favour.
• Prefer towards, travelling, cancelled, judgement, ageing.
• Do not mix American forms (prioritize, organization, color) into otherwise British copy.

Headlines

• Use sentence case: capitalise the first word and proper nouns only. Prefer “Sliema Nexawin beats Sirens 15–11 in BOV Summer League”, not Title Case throughout.
• Keep acronyms capped (BOV, PN, EU, MFA, GWU). Do not invent clever or judgemental framing.
• Aim for roughly 50–60 characters; never truncate mid-phrase.

Punctuation and scores

• Sports scores and numeric ranges take an en dash: 15–11, 7–2, 2025–26. Do not use a hyphen (15-11) or em dash for scores.
• Use a spaced en dash for parenthetical breaks where a dash is needed. Avoid decorative em dashes.
• Straight, minimal punctuation in body copy; no Oxford comma unless needed for clarity.

Maltese names and diacritics

• Preserve official Maltese spelling and diacritics: San Ġiljan, Ħamrun, Għargħur, Żebbuġ, Birkirkara, Marsaxlokk, Ta' Xbiex.
• Do not strip Ġ/Ħ/Ż/Ċ/għ from names to “simplify” English. Match the form used by the club, council or person named.
• Sliema is written without a diacritic in English house style (not Tas-Sliema in headlines unless quoting Maltese).

Dates, times and figures

• Dates: 14 July 2026 (day month year, no comma). Avoid US order (July 14, 2026).
• Times: 9am, 7.30pm (full stop in minutes; no leading zero). Use 24-hour time only for timetables or official schedules that are published that way.
• Currency: €15,000 with a comma as thousands separator. Percentages: 97% with no space.

Organisations and politics

• British -isation/-ise for common nouns: organisation, prioritisation. Proper names keep their own spelling (European Commission, Labor only if that is the official foreign name).
• Labour Party / Partit Laburista (PL); Nationalist Party / Partit Nazzjonalista (PN). Use the English party name in English copy unless quoting Maltese.
• Spell out a body on first mention if readers may not know the acronym, then use the short form.

Sponsored and club team names

• First mention: use the competition-style sponsor name as published (Sliema Nexawin, Sirens BUILD FITNESS, San Ġiljan MAA DAIKIN).
• Later mentions: short club name (Sliema, Sirens, San Ġiljan) unless the sponsor string is needed to distinguish sides.
• Do not invent or rearrange sponsor order; follow the league or club’s own styling for capitals in sponsor blocks.

Sourcing and attribution

Our coverage is compiled from established Maltese news outlets, official notices, public statements, and other publicly available information. Where a story draws on the reporting of another publication, we attribute it clearly and link to the original source so readers can read the primary coverage in full. We do not claim original reporting where it does not exist.

Accuracy and verification

We check names, dates, figures, locations, and key claims against the sources available to us before publishing. When a detail cannot be confirmed, we either omit it or describe it plainly as unconfirmed. Numbers and quotes are taken directly from sourced material rather than paraphrased in ways that could change their meaning.

Travel page review (Getting Here)

The Getting to Sliema hub summarises volatile transport details. Do not publish exact fares, full timetables, or fixed frequencies on that page without an official source and a retrieval date. Prefer short summaries plus official live links.

• Review at least every 90 days, and after major Malta Public Transport, ferry or Airport Direct timetable changes.
• Update localitySeo.travel.lastChecked in _data/site.json when you finish a review.
• Re-check: Airport Direct naming (currently TD3 for Gżira / Sliema / St Julian’s per Malta Airport), Valletta Ferry Services timetable link, Gozo Channel schedule link, Gozo Highspeed / Valletta fast-ferry landing notes, paid car-park operating status, and Blue Badge guidance links.
• Keep arrival planning on Getting Here; keep in-town walking, local buses and neighbourhood parking tips on the transport guide to avoid duplication.
• Referral / advertising cards must stay labelled; editorial “usual best option” copy must not depend on commission.

How we produce our coverage

Sliema News uses editorial automation, including AI-assisted tools, to help monitor local sources and draft coverage at speed. This process runs within editorial rules we define for sourcing, attribution, neutrality, and accuracy, and stories are subject to automated and editorial quality checks before they are published. Material that cannot be verified, that reads as opinion rather than news, or that fails our quality checks is not published.

Corrections policy

We correct mistakes promptly. If you believe something we have published is inaccurate or unfair, please contact us with the article link and the details you would like reviewed. Where we make a substantive correction, we update the article and, where appropriate, note that it has been amended.

Independence

Our editorial decisions are made independently. Where coverage relates to a commercial relationship, sponsorship, or partnership, we aim to make that relationship clear to readers.

Contact

For corrections, story tips, or general enquiries, use our contact page. For copyright matters, see our DMCA notice. You can also follow our latest coverage via RSS and on Facebook.