Key audit risks and audit procedures during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic: an analysis of audit reports 2019-2020

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore audit procedure disclosures related to key audit risks, during the prior year and the initial year of the COVID-19 outbreak, by reporting on matters published in over 3,000 Australian statutory audit reports during 2019 and 2020. Design/methodology/approach This study partially uses latent semantic analysis methods to apply textual and readability analyses to external audit reports in Australia. The authors measure the tone of the audit reports using the Loughran and McDonald (2011) approach. Findings The authors find that 3% of audit procedures undertaken during 2020 were designed to address audit risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. As a percentage of total audit procedures undertaken during 2020, the authors find that smaller practitioners reported much less audit procedures related to COVID-19 audit risks than most larger audit firms. Finally, the textual analysis further found differences in the sentiment or tone of words used by different auditors in 2020, but differences in sentiment or tone were not found when 2020 was compared to the prior year 2019. Originality/value This study provides early evidence on whether auditors designed audit procedures to deal specifically with audit risks that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic and on the extent and nature of those audit procedures. The study will help policymakers to better understand whether Key Audit Matters provided informational value to investors during a time of global crisis.

F. Isac’s Qur’anic Hermeneutics in Context of Islamic Liberation Theology

Farid Esack is a modern Islamic scholar of South African origin who suggests original Qur’anic hermeneutics in the scope of theology of liberation. The characteristics of his theology considered in this article are: the praxis of liberation, contextualism, scrupulous textual analysis, hermeneutics oriented at struggle with institutions of oppression. It is noted that his hermeneutics diff ers from the hermeneutics of other theologians of liberation — he represents the praxis of liberation as a main task of theology of liberation. His method is not only theoretical scholarly speculative exercise on textual interpretation, at the same it inspires and encourages people for changes in society, for enhancement the lives of people where justice comes as its necessary fundamental stipulation. His refl ective theology is an intellectual response to the challenges of postmodern world aimed at establishing such virtues in society as justice, freedom, mercy and setting up more egalitarian Islamic society.

When Elon Musk Changes his Tone, Does Bitcoin Adjust Its Tune?

We present a textual analysis that explains how Elon Musk’s sentiments in his Twitter content correlates with price and volatility in the Bitcoin market using the dynamic conditional correlation-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model, allowing less sensitive to window size than traditional models. After examining 10,850 tweets containing 157,378 words posted from December 2017 to May 2021 and rigorously controlling other determinants, we found that the tone of the world’s wealthiest person can drive the Bitcoin market, having a Granger causal relation with returns. In addition, Musk is likely to use positive words in his tweets, and reversal effects exist in the relationship between Bitcoin prices and the optimism presented by Tesla’s CEO. However, we did not find evidence to support linkage between Musk’s sentiments and Bitcoin volatility. Our results are also robust when using a different cryptocurrency, i.e., Ether this paper extends the existing literature about the mechanisms of social media content generated by influential accounts on the Bitcoin market.

Open-source investigation as a genre of conflict reporting

This paper examines the role and scope of eyewitness images in open-source investigation, which is becoming a prominent genre of conflict reporting in its own right. Based on interviews with journalists at the Visual Investigations Unit at The New York Times and a textual analysis of their video reports, the paper sheds light on the paradoxical working of the genre, which simultaneously opens up and limits opportunities for eyewitness images as a platform for voice. The paper thus argues that despite the journalists’ commitment to innovation, the logics of institutions, the corporate ethos of social media platforms, and the pervasive power of geopolitics continue to shape the articulation, recognition, and agency of voice.

RECOBRAR LA MIRADA EN TIEMPOS DE POSVERDAD: EL ESTILO DE PAOLO SORRENTINO ANTE LA OBSCENIDAD EN SILVIO (Y LOS OTROS) (LORO, 2018)

El presente trabajo propone un análisis textual de Silvio (Y los otros) (Paolo Sorrentino, 2018). Para ello, utilizaremos una metodología basada en las aportaciones de la semiología del cine, especialmente en lo que toca tanto a los procesos significantes de la forma como al despliegue de intertextos que dotan de espesor a la escritura de Sorrentino. Nuestro objetivo es demostrar que tras la aparente relación con los estilemas de la “imagen postmoderna” –la desmesura, la serialidad, la citación…-, se puede poner de relieve un programa ético que responda a los retos contemporáneos de las relaciones entre verdad, representación y política. Abstract: This paper proposes a textual analysis of Loro (Paolo Sorrentino, 2018). To do so, we will use a methodology based on the contributions of the semiology of cinema, especially with regard to both the significant processes of form and the deployment of intertexts that give thickness to Sorrentino’s writing. Our aim is to show that behind the apparent relationship with the stilems of the “postmodern image” —the disproportion, the seriality, the citation...—, it is possible to highlight an ethical programme that responds to the contemporary challenges of the relations between truth, representation and politics.

Killing or Sparing Inedible Animals: Ādāb and Internormativity in al-Jīlānī’s Kitāb al-Ghunya

This article draws on an excerpt of ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (d. 561/1166) in his al-Ghunya li-Ṭālibī al-Ḥaqq (“The Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path to the Truth [God]”), dealing with ādāb related to killing or sparing inedible animals. It first pleads for a detailed textual analysis, in order to understand the normative frame the author uses. Keeping away from an exclusive juridical perspective, we try to consider Islamic normativity as a whole, using a holistic normative methodology and encompassing ādāb, popular beliefs, and spiritual tenets beyond fiqh rules. This analysis is the key to find out which function do ādāb toward animals have for believers.

CITATION PRACTICES IN RESEARCH ARTICLES IN INDONESIA-BASED JOURNALS AND INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS Udi Samanhudi, Aisling O’Boyle

This paper examines the similarities and differences in the use of rhetorical citations in research articles in two journal publication contexts in the field of Applied Linguistics, namely Indonesian Journals aimed at a local audience, and International Journals aimed at a global audience. Fifty Discussion Sections from published research articles were taken from the two publication contexts. Results of the analysis indicate a dominant use of integral citations especially verb-controlling type in the Indonesian local corpus. It is suggested that this citation type requires less demand on synthesising various sources cited while Discussion Sections in the International corpus make greater use of non-integral citations which indicates a succinct synthesis of various sources. In terms of function, referring to literature is the most salient function in Indonesian local corpus while attribution is the most dominant function found in the International corpus. Accompanying the textual analysis of citation practices in these journals, Indonesian academics as part of the community of the discipline were interviewed. Their perspectives indicate urgency for results of genre analysis studies to be transformed into teaching materials to assist especially novice writers in the field of Applied Linguistics in understanding English research article writing conventions better.

Assessing the readiness of small cities in Ghana to tackle overweight and obesity

The rapid rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and the associated health problems, is an emerging challenge in Ghana, and for women in particular. This study contributes to the understanding of this emerging phenomenon in Ghana by analyzing it from a community perspective, applying the Community Readiness Model in two small cities in Ghana. A series of Key Informant Interviews were undertaken and analyzed, using the model’s scoring structure and supplementary textual analysis. We find that communities are aware of overweight and obesity as a health issue, but that it is not prioritized or championed. Furthermore, the diet counseling and keep-fit programs put the responsibility on individuals to address, rather than considering the upstream and structural causes and solutions.

I Correct or Canceling You

This contribution studies the debated terms “politically correct” and “cancel culture” on Twitter and in particular investigates the meaning that people give when they label something or someone as politically correct or indicate a case of cancel culture in the Italian context, where they are not yet widespread as they are in the USA and Britain. A textual analysis of a corpus of tweets selected through a set of hashtags was carried out to identify thematic clusters to understand features and meanings given to these expressions, along with their ways of using in the various situations and contexts. The main results show different meanings of the term, in the negative sense as a limitation of freedom of speech, and in a positive sense as the exclusion of some terms that may offend some people or groups. In this case, the meaning of a word is relative and depends on the situation and context in which it is used. Furthermore, the recourse in the discourses of cancel culture is only rhetorical; there are no actions of cancellation or boycott of someone or something.