MaltaToday publishes style guide with a local flair for Maltese journalists

Newsroom style guides are published by all the major news outlets worldwide, but no such guidelines have ever been published by a Maltese mediahouse.

On Monday, MaltaToday marked its 25th anniversary with its first style guide to help journalists keep to a consistent tone and high ethical standards.

The Newsroom Handbook: A Guide to Writing News lays out the editorial principles of MaltaToday while providing guidelines on spelling and word choices to make sure journalists are equipped with the proper vocabulary to report on the Maltese news.

Among the decisions laid out in the book include when to ask for comment, how to report on sensitive topics, and the use of Maltese in English writing.  

The book also feaures a lexicon of common words used in journalistic writing, with brief descriptions and spelling guidelines for each word.

For example, MaltaToday prefers not to italicise Maltese words so as to avoid making them appear foreign. Meanwhile, words like festa and pastizzi will not be translated into English but instead explained generally. When referring to The Three Cities, we stick with Bormla, Isla and Birgu—not Cospicua, Senglea or Vittoriosa. And while MaltaToday prefers British English, we make exceptions for certain American words that have become more popular than their British versions, such as ‘truck’ over ‘lorry’.

The handbook was launched during an event at The Other Brewery Co. in Marsa. Mediatoday journalists past and present were invited to celebrate this milestone in the newspaper’s history.

Copies of the style guide will be available at the Mediatoday office in San Ġwann for €10.99. Anyone interested in a copy can also send an email to [email protected].