Advertising that never crosses the floor.

The commercial policy that governs every placement across the Montlior titles — what we sell, what we will not sell, and the wall between this company and the newsroom.

Last updated 12 January 2026.

The separation

Montlior Media was constituted as a separate company in 1984 and has its own board. It holds no access to editorial systems, embargoed copy or forward news schedules, and there is no route by which a commercial concern can be raised with an editor. Advertisers have no sight of, and no influence over, what Montlior News publishes.

The separation runs in both directions. The newsroom does not know who is booked on a page, and editors are not told when a campaign is cancelled. Where a partner's campaign appears adjacent to Montlior reporting about that partner or its sector, the adjacency is disclosed on the page.

Labelling

• Every advertisement carries the word “Advertisement” in visible text, on every unit, in every format, without exception.
• Every Branded Content Studio piece carries a label above the headline reading “Paid content — produced by Montlior Media Studio for [partner]”, set at the same size as the standfirst.
• Every sponsored audio segment opens with a spoken sponsorship line read by the host.
• Labels are set by the platform, not by the advertiser, and cannot be resized, recoloured or removed.

Placement

• No more than four commercial units appear on any page, and never two in succession.
• Advertising never appears above the masthead, inside a lead package, or between a headline and its story.
• About, Careers, corrections, obituaries and policy pages carry no advertising at all.
• No advertisement may be designed to resemble Montlior journalism in type, layout or tone.

What we do not accept

• Political advertising during a Coravian election period, and issue advertising that does not name its funder.
• Advertising directed at children, and advertising for gambling or high-cost short-term credit.
• Creative that flashes above 3 Hz, autoplays audio, expands over content, or takes over the page.
• Programmatic and exchange-traded inventory. Every unit is sold directly to a named advertiser.
• Audience segments built from our readers' behaviour elsewhere, and any form of cross-site identity graph or fingerprinting.

Sensitive content

Units are withheld automatically from pages covering bereavement, violence, serious accident, criminal proceedings and public health emergencies. Where we withhold impressions, we tell the partner and we do not charge for them. Category exclusions requested at booking are applied in addition to this baseline.

Complaints

If you believe an advertisement on a Montlior title breaches this policy, write to standards@montliorgroup.example. Complaints are reviewed by the standards committee, which is chaired by the Chief Executive of Montlior Media and includes two members who are not employed by either company. We reply within ten working days and publish an annual summary of upheld complaints.

Review

This policy is reviewed annually by the Montlior Media board and by the Group's editorial independence committee. It sits beneath the Group's editorial independence charter, which governs both companies.