Sustainability reporting patterns of companies listed on the Johannesburg securities exchange

The demand by stakeholders for information about companies’ social and environmental performance has led to sustainability reporting becoming essential. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines are the international reporting standard whereas the Johannesburg Securities Exchange Socially Responsible Investment (JSE SRI) Index guidelines are used in South Africa. Although South Africa is regarded as one of the leaders in sustainability reporting in the world, the JSE SRI Index is still a relatively new standard and its efficiency will only be proved over time. The research on which this paper is based, determined whether reporting patterns exist across specific market sectors of the sustainability reports of companies listed on the JSE in order to establish if the JSE SRI Index guidelines on reporting are efficient. Results indicated that all the selected market sectors reported on the environment, society and governance (ESG) categories as per requirements of the JSE SRI Index. The mining and materials sector reported more in the environment and the society categories than the other sectors, while in the governance category less reporting on indirect impacts by all the sectors was noted. The implication of this is that in general, companies find the JSE SRI Index guidelines on reporting easy to implement. However, less reporting of companies’ indirect impacts on their operating environments could mean that there is still a lack of completeness and transparency from the companies’ reports, which could be as a result of a lack of firmer guidelines by the JSE SRI Index guidelines on reporting of such issues.     

Responses to prenatal opioid and alcohol abuse: A review of US and Australian mandatory reporting laws

Prenatal substance use, specifically opioid and excessive alcohol use, can cause significant adverse effects for the unborn foetus in both the short-and long-term. Responses by state social systems occur on a spectrum of prevention and early intervention to support mothers. Some but not all states include reporting duties, so that professionals made aware of the situation may alert agencies that can intervene to provide appropriate support. This article will review legal duties to report maternal substance use during pregnancy in the US and Australia. We identify variations in these laws regarding who is required to report, what circumstances must be reported and what indicates child abuse or neglect. Inconsistencies in laws raise questions about the nature of different approaches, and how reforms might be made to improve provision of support. Informed by the medical literature, the contemporary context and federal policy in the US, we make recommendations for reform, and for the appropriate response to such reports.     

行政举报答复行为可诉性审查规则探析

目前,由于我国的举报制度散见于各个行政管理部门法当中,缺乏统一的上位法规范,行政举报答复行为的可诉性审查普遍存在举报的概念和范围界定不明确、行政举报答复行为性质认定不一、被诉行政行为混同的问题。因此,将举报答复行为分阶段区分为受理阶段的举报答复行为、处理阶段举报答复行为以及特殊阶段的举报答复行为,受理阶段的举报答复属于程序性答复具有独立程序价值,并对当事人权利义务产生直接影响具有可诉性。处理阶段仅涉及实体利益的举报答复有涉及自身利益与公共利益之分,公益性举报请求保护利益为反射利益,不具有可诉性。自益性举报通过判断其所依据的法律规范是否具有保护当事人个人利益的目的来判断可诉性。特殊阶段的行政奖励与答复行为的可诉性互相独立,有奖举报的存在不意味答复行为当然具有可诉性。     

‘What the country wanted’: The houses of parliament,the press and the origins of media management in Britain,c. 1780–1900

This paper considers a topic that has received scant attention in the historiography of public relations: official attempts to manage the press in Britain in the Houses of Parliament in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Existing accounts of the emergence of government public relations in the UK have tended to focus on the civil service in the first half of the twentieth century, but this article sheds light on a series of earlier developments, including the allocation of seats for reporters in the viewing gallery of the Commons in 1803, the construction of dedicated Reporters’ Galleries in both parliamentary chambers in 1847–52 and the creation of a Westminster Lobby in 1884. Taken together, these reforms improved journalists’ access to parliament in an era in which direct governmental control over newspapers lapsed. Yet, they also allowed politicians to influence media commentary by determining who was permitted access to parliament and what type of content made its way into print. A case can thus be made that Westminster, not Whitehall, played host to the earliest official attempts to manage the media in Britain, and this has important repercussions for current understandings of public relations history.     

风险导向审计的认识误区

“银广夏”和“安然”事件后,会计学术界对风险导向审计予以了特别关注,并对风险导向审计的相关概念、本质及程序和方法等进行了全面探讨,这种探讨有利于审计理论的创新与发展;同时多元化概念的并存也会造成审计人员的无所适从。认识上的不统一、理解上的差异不利于风险导向审计在我国审计实践中的运用、发展和创新。文章通过对相关文献的归纳,总结出风险导向审计的五大认识误区。     

网络反腐过程中网络举报的规范化研究

网络反腐信息的披露和曝光有正式和非正式两种。在法律和制度层面,将网络披露和曝光反腐信息的行为视为举报之一种,肯定其法律地位和法律效力,赋予其规范意义和制度功能,既符合举报制度的法律解读和政治意涵,也是应对腐败案件特性和国际反腐运动发展趋势的必然要求。应该针对非正式网络举报特点,建立舆情收集分析和线索核查机制;确立合理评价和鼓励原则,理性规制和引导网络举报相关行为;制定《举报法》,完善网络举报法律制度,规范保护网络举报。     

美国信用法律制度简介

美国是当今世界信用经济最发达的国家,也是信用法律法律相对最为发达的国家。美国的信用法律主要包括关于信贷与租赁的法律、关于信用报告的法律、关于平等授信的法律以及关于公平债务催收的法律等,这些法律对于促进美国信用经济的发展发挥着积极的作用。美国信用法律制度具有三个显著特征:以信用交易的充分发展为先导;具有深厚的文化基础;形式多样。在美国信用经济的形成、发展过程中,信用报告体系是极其重要的推动力。发展我国的信用经济,建立我国的社会信用体系,应当以建立信用报告体系为突破口。     

从新闻叙事的角度看表彰报道中存在的“刻板形象”

表彰报道作为会议新闻的一种,因为其报道题材的特殊性和约定性而呈现出模式化的“刻板形象”。从新闻叙事的角度对表彰报道中存在的缺失进行探析,认为其不足之处主要表现在新闻叙事的程序化和模式化、干瘪的“伪”叙事以及新闻价值的缺乏等方面。在此基础上,提出通过角色模拟的综合视角运用以及在编辑手法上搭配图表和信息框等途径来加以改进。     

“介入”的新闻

记者介入事件进程,是新闻报道中较为特殊的形式,在学理上有待深入探讨。介入型的新闻报道,可以分为体验式、揭秘式和策划式三种。记者的介入应遵循事实的客观性原则、事件的规律性原则、认识的科学性原则、法律和道德准则。     

突发事件中新闻媒体的责任

在突发事件的报道中,一些媒体承受了巨大的压力,究其原因和责任不明有关。我国主流媒体的性质、地位决定其有责任及时、准确地报道突发事件,以适应我国建设和发展大局的需要、推进政治文明建设的需要以及媒体之间竞争的需要。同时,主流媒体在报道突发事件时有责任增强法纪意识,以国家利益为最高利益,不传播虚假信息,防止为保障知情权而侵犯当事人的名誉权。媒体在突发事件报道中还要考虑受众的心理承受能力,主动担负起社会责任。