This page sets out how Malta Central decides what to publish, how it checks it, and what happens when it gets something wrong. It applies to every page on the site.
Where facts come from
Every factual claim should be traceable to the body that owns it. Fees, permits and entry rules come from the government department that sets them. Feast dates come from parish and diocesan sources. Timetables and fares come from the operator. Where a page rests on an outside authority, that authority is named and linked on the page itself, not buried in a footer.
We do not treat other travel sites as sources. If the only support for a claim is that three other blogs also say it, the claim does not go in.
The last-verified stamp
Pages carrying facts that expire show the date they were last checked, with the sources they were checked against. This is the most useful thing on the page. It is never backdated, never bumped automatically, and never applied to a page nobody has re-read.
A page with no stamp is one where nothing on it expires, or one we have not yet checked. Treat an undated page about a fee or a timetable with suspicion, and tell us about it.
Independence from advertising
Nobody can buy a ranking, a recommendation or a place on a list. This is worth stating precisely, because the interesting cases are the ones that sound like exceptions.
Where the line sits
- Rankings
- Ordered by the criteria stated on the page. Commission rates are never one of the criteria, and an advertiser is not moved up or protected from being left out.
- Sponsored content
- Paid pieces are labelled as sponsored wherever they appear, including in listings and feeds, not only on the article itself.
- Partner links
- Marked on the page and carrying the attributes search engines ask for. Whether a supplier pays commission does not affect whether we recommend them.
- Advertising
- Sold as position on a page. It buys space and nothing else. It is never mixed into editorial copy.
- Free tickets and hosted visits
- If a visit was paid for by the operator, the page says so. There is no arrangement in which coverage is promised in exchange.
Corrections
We correct things quietly when they are typographical and openly when they are substantive. A substantive correction, meaning one that changes what a reader would do, is noted on the page with the date. We do not delete a wrong page and pretend it never existed. How to report one is set out on the corrections page.
What we do not do
We do not publish personal information about private individuals. We do not reproduce other people’s photographs or copy without a licence. We do not run stories about named businesses on the strength of a single anonymous complaint. We do not give legal, medical, tax or immigration advice. Pages about permits and tax explain how a process works and point at the authority that decides. They are not a substitute for professional advice on your own circumstances.
Hold us to this
If a page on this site falls short of what is written here, please tell us. We would rather hear it than not.