Changing journalism for the likely present

Media convergence and newsroom integration have become industry buzzwords as the ideas spread through newsrooms around the world. In November 2007 Fairfax Media in Australia introduced the newsroom of the future model, as its flagship newspapers moved into a purpose-built newsroom in Sydney. News Ltd, the country’s next biggest media group, is also embracing multi-media forms of reporting. What are the implications of this development for journalism? This paper examines changes in the practice of journalism in Australia and around the world. It attempts to answer the question: How does the practice of journalism need to change to prepare not for the future, but for the likely present.

Early in November 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review and the Sun-Herald moved into a new building dubbed the ‘newsroom of the future’ at One Darling Island Road in Sydney’s Darling Harbour precinct. Phil McLean, at the time Fairfax Media’s group executive editor and the man in charge of the move, said three quarters of the entire process involved getting people to ‘think differently’ – that is, to modify their mindset so they could work with multi-media.

The new newsroom symbolised the culmination of a series of major changes at Fairfax. In August 2006 the traditional newspaper company, John Fairfax Ltd, changed its name to Fairfax Media to reflect its multi-platform future. In March 2007 Fairfax launched Australia’s first online-only daily publication in Queensland, brisbanetimes.com.au. In May 2007 Fairfax completed its merger with Rural Press to become the biggest media company in Australasia, with annual revenues of about $2.5 billion and market capitalisation of about $7 billion. Two months later Fairfax got even bigger when it acquired at least one radio station in all Australian capital cities plus television studios when it bought Southern Cross Broadcasting. Fairfax is expected to bid for one of the two digital television licences made available by the changes to media ownership laws promulgated in May 2007.

The aim in moving Fairfax from a print to a multi-platform company was to reach as large an audience as possible. ‘We have a total readership in print of over 4 million per day and online of over 5 million per month’, CEO David Kirk said at the time of the Rural Press merger. ‘Our brand of quality, independent, balanced journalism will serve and support more communities than ever’ (Kirk 2007). A few months earlier chairman Ron Walker had written in the company’s annual report: ‘Fairfax is evolving into a truly digital media company’ (2006: 2). Within five years Fairfax would be a significantly bigger Internet company that distributed its content ‘over more media’, Kirk wrote in the same report (2006: 5).

Kirk developed a three-pronged strategy. The first part of the strategy involved the need to ‘defend and grow our newspaper publishing businesses’ – that is, to consolidate and develop the existing newspapers, whose circulations were holding steady during the week and improving on Saturdays. The second part involved plans to ‘accelerate the revenue and earnings of our digital business’. The third part was ‘to build a digital media company for the twenty-first century’ (Fairfax annual report 2006: 3). In June 2007 Kirk appointed Tim Mannes project leader for the Fairfax Media-Rural Press integration. ‘The purpose of the integration work is to bring the two companies together and build what is truly Australasia’s leading media company’, Mannes wrote in a memo to all staff on 7 June 2007. ‘It’s vital throughout this process that we maintain continuity and momentum and protect the interests and needs of our customers’ (2007: 1).

The business model appears attractive. Kirk said Fairfax’s increased scale and diversity would mean it relied less on classified lineage advertising in major metropolitan newspapers, so it could ‘rapidly develop the best online response to changing media advertising patterns’. In the two years to 2006, online’s contribution to Fairfax’s profits had grown from 1 per cent to 14 per cent with ‘much more to come’. Online’s share of the national advertising pie had grown from 2 per cent in 2002 to 10 per cent in 2006 (Beverley 2007: 6) and had jumped to 14 per cent in 2007. Analysts said they were happy with Fairfax’s move ‘from a newspaper company to a media company’ and banks such as Credit Suisse upgraded their profits forecast (AFR 19 September 2007: 37).

Planning for the move to One Darling Island Road in Sydney’s Darling Harbour started early in 2006. Fairfax CEO David Kirk took personal responsibility. He and chairman Ron Walker visited integrated sites around the world, along with a group of editorial bosses. The favoured site was The Daily Telegraph in London, which embraced convergence from June 2006. CEO Murdoch McLennan hired a consultant from Ifra, Dr Dietmar Schantin, director of the Newsplex, to facilitate the move from mono-media to multi-media at The Telegraph. Schantin said change was less about new technologies and more about altering the established mindset. The focus must be on the audience: ‘The whole idea of audience orientation seems to be quite new for some newspapers. In the past it was more “we know what is good for our readers and so we distribute the content”.’ Newspapers were a service industry whose service was information and news, he said. Newspapers had to learn to ‘serve’ its audience with the things the audience wanted to know, on any appropriate platform. ‘We start from the audience. What they want is a very important point. That does not mean that a newspaper should just do what the audience wants. The newspaper [also] needs to stick
to its core values’ (Luft 2006, Coleman 2007: 5).

Tom Curley, CEO of the world’s biggest newsgathering organisation, Associated Press, gave an important speech to the annual Knight-Bagehot dinner in New York in November 2007. The news industry had come to a fork in the road and needed to take bold steps to secure the audiences and funding to support journalism’s essential role for both the economy and democracy, he said. Otherwise the media industry would find itself ‘on an ugly path to obscurity’. He similarly emphasised the need to serve the audience: ‘Our focus must be on becoming the very best at filling people’s 24-hour news needs. That’s a huge shift from the we-know-best, gatekeeper thinking. Sourcing, fact gathering, researching, storytelling, editing [and] packaging aren’t going away’
(Curley 2007).

Kirk appointed a ‘newsroom of the future’ committee from editorial (reporters and photographers), IT and HR. The committee initiated a study tour by editorial executives of leading integrated and converged newsrooms in the UK and the US in April 2007. This became known as the ‘Tier 1’ course and involved the editor and deputy editor of The Age, and the news editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. The Herald’s editor went to the annual conference of the World Association of Newspapers in Cape Town, South Africa in June 2007 because that event featured convergence as one of its main themes (PANPA Bulletin June 2007: 6). The committee designed a two-day awareness course for senior editorial managers, known as ‘Tier 2’, that was run in Sydney in July 2007. The ‘Tier 3’ program for all editorial staff started in August 2007 and this ‘multi-media awareness program’ continued until the end of the year. A ‘Tier 4’ course for about 10 per cent of editorial staff (about 40 journalists), where they learned a range of multi-media skills, was scheduled to start after the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The author facilitated most of the Tier 2 and 3 courses.

The Tier 3 and 4 courses have profound implications for journalism education in Australia because they represent the start of major changes to how journalists work in Australia. The process reflects evolution in newsroom practices around the world. In November 2006 Ifra, the international media research company, asked newspaper executives worldwide about their priorities for 2007. The survey attracted 240 responses from 43 countries and results appeared in January 2007. Integration, editorial convergence and cross-media strategies attracted the most attention. Four in five executives rated it one of their top priorities, and half made it their main priority in terms of allocating ‘significant’ funds (Ifra 2007: 34). Ifra repeated the survey in November 2007 and published the results in January 2008. Expanding web strategies was first on the list for 2008, just ahead of editorial convergence strategies, which topped the list in 2007. Improving video and audio content jumped 14 places, and mobile phone strategies leapt 9 places between 2007 and 2008 to be near the top of the list (Ifra 2008: 8).

Savings behaviour in Fiji : an empirical assessment using the ARDL approach to cointegration

Purpose – This paper aims to delineate the short- and long-run relationships between savings, real interest rate, income, current account deficits (CADs) and age dependency ratio in Fiji using cointegration and error correction models over the period 1968-2000.

Design/methodology/approach – The recently developed bounds testing approach to cointegration is used, which is applicable irrespective of whether the underlying variables are integrated of order one or order zero. Given the small sample size in this study, appropriate critical values were extracted from Narayan. To estimate the short- and long-run elasticities, the autoregressive distributed-lag model is used.

Findings – In the short- and long-run: a 1 per cent increase in growth rate increases savings by over 0.07 and 0.5 per cent, respectively; a 1 per cent increase in the CAD reduces savings rate by 0.01 and 0.02 per cent, respectively; and the negative coefficient on the real interest rate implies that the income effect dominates the substitution effect, while in the short-run the total effect of the real interest rate is positive, implying that the substitution effect dominates the income effect.

Originality/value – This paper makes the first attempt at estimating the savings function for the Fiji Islands. Given that Fiji's capital market is poorly developed, the empirical findings here have direct policy relevance.

Multivariate granger causality between electricity consumption, exports and GDP : Evidence from a panel of Middle Eastern countries

This paper examines the causal relationship between electricity consumption, exports and gross domestic product (GDP) for a panel of Middle Eastern countries. We find that for the panel as a whole there are statistically significant feedback effects between these variables. A 1 per cent increase in electricity consumption increases GDP by 0.04 per cent, a 1 per cent increase in exports increases GDP by 0.17 per cent and a 1 per cent increase in GDP generates a 0.95 per cent increase in electricity consumption. The policy implications are that for the panel as a whole these countries should invest in electricity infrastructure and step up electricity conservation policies to avoid a reduction in electricity consumption adversely affecting economic growth. Further policy implications are that for the panel as a whole promoting exports, particularly non-oil exports, is a means to promote economic growth and that expansion of exports can be realized without having adverse effects on energy conservation policies.

An empirical analysis of Fiji’s import demand function

Purpose – This paper aims to estimate a disaggregated import demand model for Fiji using relative prices, total consumption, investment expenditure and export expenditure variables for the period 1970 to 2000.

Design/methodology/approach – The recently developed bounds testing approach to cointegration to test for a long run relationship is used, while the autoregressive distributed lag model is used to estimate short run and long run elasticities. These methodologies are shown to perform well in small sample sizes, particularly given that the bounds F-test critical values for small sample sizes generated by Narayan in 2004 and 2005 are used.

Findings – Amongst the key results it is found: a long run cointegration relationship among the variables when import demand is the dependent variable; and import demand to be inelastic and statistically significant at the 1 per cent level with respect to all the explanatory variables in both the long-run and the short-run.

Originality/value – The disaggregated import demand model estimated here provides a complete picture of the determinants of Fiji's imports. This model can be used by Fijian policy makers to draw pertinent policies and forecast import demand for Fiji.

An international survey of daily disposable contact lens prescribing

The aim was to determine the extent of daily disposable contact lens prescribing worldwide and to characterise the associated demographics and fitting patterns. Up to 1,000 survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in up to 40 countries between January and March every year for five consecutive years (2007 to 2011). Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Survey data collected since 1996 were also analysed for seven nations to assess daily disposable lens fitting trends since that time. Data were collected in relation to 97,289 soft lens fits, of which 23,445 (24.1 per cent) were with daily disposable lenses and 73,170 (75.9 per cent) were with reusable lenses. Daily disposable lens prescribing ranged from 0.6 per cent of all soft lenses in Nepal to 66.2 per cent in Qatar. Compared with reusable lens fittings, daily disposable lens fittings can be characterised as follows: older age (30.0 ± 12.5 versus 29.3 ± 12.3 years for reusable lenses); males are over-represented; a greater proportion of new fits versus refits; 85.9 per cent hydrogel; lower proportion of toric and presbyopia designs and a higher proportion of part-time wear. There has been a continuous increase in daily disposable lens prescribing between 1996 and 2011. The proportion of daily disposable lens fits (as a function of all soft lens fits) is positively related to the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita (r(2) = 0.55, F = 46.8, p < 0.0001). The greater convenience and other benefits of daily disposable lenses have resulted in this modality capturing significant market share. The contact lens field appears to be heading toward a true single-use-only, disposable lens market.

Diabetes care provision: barriers, enablers and service needs of young adults with Type 1 diabetes from a region of social disadvantage

AIMS:
To determine the barriers to and enablers of engaging with specialist diabetes care and the service requirements of young adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus from a low socio-economic, multicultural region.

METHODS:
A cross-sectional survey targeted 357 young adults with Type 1 diabetes, aged 18-30 years. Participants completed questions about barriers/enablers to accessing diabetes care and service preferences, self-reported HbA(1c), plus measures of diabetes-related distress (Problem Areas in Diabetes), depression/anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and illness perceptions (Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire).

RESULTS:
Eighty-six (24%) responses were received [55 (64%) female; mean ± sd age 24 ± 4 years; diabetes duration 12 ± 7 years; HbA(1c) 68 ± 16 mmol/mol (8.4 ± 1.5%)]. Logistical barriers to attending diabetes care were reported; for example, time constraints (30%), transportation (26%) and cost (21%). However, 'a previous unsatisfactory diabetes health experience' was cited as a barrier by 27%. Enablers were largely matched to overcoming these barriers. Over 90% preferred a multidisciplinary team environment, close to home, with after-hours appointment times. Forty per cent reported severe diabetes-related distress, 19% reported moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms and 50% reported moderate-to-severe anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS:
Among these young adults with Type 1 diabetes, glycaemic control was suboptimal and emotional distress common. They had identifiable logistical barriers to accessing and maintaining contact with diabetes care services, which can be addressed with flexible service provision. A substantial minority were discouraged by previous unsatisfactory experiences, suggesting health providers need to improve their interactions with young adults. This research will inform the design of life-stage-appropriate diabetes services targeting optimal engagement, access, attendance and ultimately improved healthcare outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Growth and nutrient utilization of Murray cod Maccullochella peelii peelii (Mitchell) fingerlings fed diets with varying levels of soybean meal and blood meal

The Australian native freshwater fish Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii pellii (Mitchell), currently supports a fledgling inland aquaculture industry, which is thought to have considerable growth potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of two alternate protein sources [blood meal (BM) and defatted soybean meal (SBM)] as substitutes for fish meal at various levels of inclusion in diets for juvenile Murray cod. The growth performance of juvenile Murray cod in response to nine isonitrogenous and isocalorific diets (50% protein, 14% lipid, 20.2 kJ g⁻¹) consisting of a control diet in which protein was supplied from fish meal, and test diets in which the fish meal protein was substituted at levels of 8%, 16%, 24%, and 32% with BM or SBM was evaluated from a 70-day growth experiment. The per cent apparent dry matter (% ADC_dm) and percentage protein digestibility (% ADC_p) of the test diets were also determined using Cr₂O₃ as a marker. Survival in all the SBM dietary treatments was high but that of fish on the BM dietary treatments was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than in all the other dietary treatments. Specific growth rate (% day−1) of Murray cod fed SBM incorporated diets ranged from 1.63 ± 0.06 to 1.78 ± 0.10 and even at the highest level tested (32% of the dietary protein from SBM) was not significantly different (P > 0.05) from the fish fed the control diet (1.65 ± 0.09). Feed conversion ratios of the SBM dietary treatments ranged from 1.36 ± 0.08 to 1.45 ± 0.07. The protein efficiency ratios and protein conversion efficiencies of Murray cod in the soybean meal treatments were also good and for a majority of the SBM diets were better than those for the control diet. Per cent ADC_dm and ADC_p of the SBM diets tested ranged from 70.6 ± 1.46 to 72.3 ± 1.81% and 88.6 ± 0.57 to 90.3 ± 0.17%, respectively, and was not significantly different (P > 0.05) from the control diet (% ADC_dm 74.3 ± 1.63; % ADC_p 91.3 ± 0.55). The reasons for significantly poor survival and growth of Murray cod reared on BM incorporated diets, and relatively poor digestibility of these diets are discussed. The study shows that for Murray cod diets in which fish meal protein is substituted up to 32% performance or carcass composition is not compromised.

Some morphometric and biochemical features of ready-to-migrate silver and pre-migratory yellow stages of the shortfin eel of south-eastern Australian waters

The mean total length (L_T), mass and age of ready to migrate female silver shortfin eels Anguilla australis from the Hopkins River estuary and the mouth of the Merri River in south-eastern Australia, were 83·2 ± 1·2 cm, 1051 ± 51 g, and 17·2 ± 1·79 years, respectively. The eye index (I_E) of the silver shortfin eels was < 5·2 (mean 7·64 ± 0·29) and differed significantly from that of the yellow shortfin eels collected from two other sites. The I_E increased with L_T (mm) and was related by log I_E= 2·656 log L_T6·925. The per cent moisture, protein and ash content of the liver of silver shortfin eels was significantly lower than in yellow shortfin eels, but lipid content was significantly higher in the former (35·5 ± 2·0%). The mean mass μg mg lipid ‾) of saturates (230·4 ± 2·6 v. 181·7 ±2·6), monoenes (367·4 ± 6·3 v. 290·8 ± 8·9) and PUFA (177·3 ± 5·3 v. 159·7 ± 4·6) in muscle was significantly higher, and the great majority of individual fatty acids was found also in higher quantities in silver shortfin eels. In the liver, the PUFA found in the highest quantity was 22:6n-3, except in shortfin eels from Hopkins River estuary, and the amount of 18:2n-6 in the liver of silver shortfin eels was significantly higher than that in yellow shortfin eels but the reverse was true of 20:4n-6. In both muscle and liver tissues the saturate 16:0 and the monoene 18:ln-9 collectively accounted for >50% of all the fatty acids in the lipid.

Evalutaion of the implementation of the folate-neural tube defect health claim and its impact on the availability of folate-fortified food in Australia

Objective: To evaluate the implementation of the folate-neural tube defect (NTD) health claim and its impact on the availability of folate-fortifed food in Australia.

Methods: During late 2005, a survey was conducted in 16 supermarkets across all Australian capital cities to identify the use of the folate-NTD health claim on the labels of the 128 food products listed in food standard 1.1A.2: 'Transitional standard - Health claims' and the number of products fortifed with folic acid.

Results: Seventy-nine per cent of existing listed food products were found and two of these were implementing the folate-NTD health claim. Forty-four per cent of these listed products, previously fortifed with folic acid, were no longer fortifed. One hundred and seventeen generally available food products were fortifed with folic acid, predominantly breakfast cereals (73%). Twenty-seven per cent of these folate-fortifed products were listed in the transitional standard.

Conclusions: The health claim was not used widely to inform women of child-bearing age of the importance of periconceptional folate intake. The increased availability of folate-fortifed products generally has occurred independently of the health claim. Defciencies in the verifcation system of the tested regulatory framework are identifed. The voluntary regulatory provisions for both folate fortifcation and the use of the health claim diminished the States' infuence over their implementation of public health tools.

Community-based study on knowledge, attitude and practice on the mode of transmission, prevention and treatment of the Buruli ulcer in Ga West District, Ghana

Buruli ulcer disease (BUD), a devastating tropical disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, occurs in more than 80% of the administrative districts of Ghana. To elucidate community perceptions and
understanding of the aetiology of BUD, attitudes towards Buruli patients and treatment-seeking behaviours, we conducted a survey with 504 heads of households and seven focus group discussions in Ga West District, Ghana. Although 67% of participants regarded BUD as a health problem, 53% did not know its cause. Sixteen per cent attributed the cause to drinking non-potable water, 8.1% mentioned poor personal hygiene or dirty surroundings, and 5.5% identified swimming or wading in ponds as a risk factor. About 5.2% thought that witchcraft and curses cause BUD, and 71.8% indicated that BU sufferers first seek treatment from herbalists and only refer to the hospital as a last resort. The main
reasons were prospects of prolonged hospital stay, cost of transport, loss of earnings and opportunity associated with parents attending their children’s hospitalization over extended period, delays in being
attended by medical staff, and not knowing the cause of the disease or required treatment. The level of acceptance of BUD sufferers was high in adults but less so in children. The challenge facing health workers is to break the vicious cycle of poor medical outcomes leading to poor attitudes to hospital treatment in the community. Because herbalists are often the first people consulted by those who contract the disease, they need to be trained in early recognition of the pre-ulcerative stage of Buruli lesions.

Exploring the oil price and real GDP nexus for a small island economy, the Fiji Islands

The goal of this paper is to examine the relationship between real GDP and oil prices using time series data for the period 1970–2005. Our main finding is that an increase in oil has a positive, albeit inelastic, impact on real GDP, inconsistent with the bulk of the literature. We argue that this is not a surprising result for the Fiji Islands. Our central argument focuses on two aspects of the Fijian economy: (1) the fact that actual output in Fiji has been around 50 per cent less than potential output; thus, Fiji's actual output has not reached a threshold level at which oil prices can negatively impact output; and (2) a rise in oil prices filters through to value added, which in turn is reflected in a larger actual output.

Knowledge, attitudes and experience associated with testing for prostate cancer: a comparison between male doctors and men in the community

Background: Debate about testing for prostate cancer using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal examination (DRE) continues. The evidence of benefit from screening for prostate cancer using PSA tests is inconclusive, and it is unclear how PSA can be used most effectively in the detection of prostate cancer. Given the lack of consensus, it is important that consumers understand the issues in a way that will permit them to decide whether or not to have a test and, if symptomatic, how their condition is managed.

Aims: To compare prostate cancer knowledge, attitudes and testing experiences reported by male doctors and men in the community, despite the lack of evidence of a benefit.

Methods : The primary method for ascertaining the attitudes of male doctors (MD) was a telephone survey, with some doctors electing to complete a written survey. Each MD was selected, at random, from a register of male practitioners aged ≥ 49 years of age. A total of 266 MD participated in the survey. The community sample (CS) was accessed using a telephone survey. Five hundred male Victorian residents aged ≥ 49 years of age participated in the study.

Results:
Knowledge − Overall, 55% of the CS indicated ­correctly that prostate disease is sometimes cancer, compared to 83% of MD.

Attitudes − Fifty-five per cent of MD believed men should be tested for prostate disease at least every 2 years, compared to 68% of men in the CS.

Testing experience − Forty-five per cent of MD had been tested for prostate cancer in the past, and 92% of those tests were reported as negative. In the CS, 56% had been tested for prostate cancer in the past, and 78% of the results were reported as negative. The ­significant independent predictors of having had a prostate test among MD were: (i) age (≥ 60 years; odds ratio (OR): 1.59; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.30−1.88) and (ii) positive attitudes towards regular testing for prostate cancer (OR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.98−2.56). The significant independent predictors for the CS were: (i) age (≥ 60 years; OR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.40−1.89), (ii) being married (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.00−1.60), (iii) knowledge that prostate disease was sometimes cancer (OR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.26−1.66) and (iv) positive attitudes towards regular testing for prostate cancer (OR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.90−2.34).

Conclusions: The results highlight that testing for prostate cancer is widespread in the community and in the medical profession. Further research should be undertaken to identify how to help men make fully informed decisions about prostate cancer testing.

Codes of ethics in corporate Sweden

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to examine and describe the use of codes of ethics in the top 100 companies operating in the Swedish corporate sector. This paper reports on the responses of those companies that possessed a code of ethics.

Design/methodology/approach – A three-stage research procedure was used. First, a questionnaire was sent to the public relations managers of the top 100 companies operating in the Swedish corporate sector (based on revenue). Companies were asked to answer up to 29 questions and to supply a copy of their code of ethics. The second stage involved content analysis of the codes of ethics supplied by survey respondents. The third stage involved a more detailed follow-up of a smaller group of firms that appeared to be close to best practice. Findings for Stage 1 of the research are reported in this paper. The areas of questioning were: how common are codes of ethics? Who was involved in the development of these codes? What are the reasons for the codes? How are they implemented? Do companies inform internal and external publics of the codes? What are the prescribed benefits of the codes?

Findings – It would appear that business ethics has only recently become a topic of interest in corporate Sweden and that many companies are in the early stages of code development and assimilation into company policies. The incidence of codes in the population (of 100) suggested by this survey (56 per cent) is lower than a US study finding (in 1995) that over 84 per cent of comparable US companies had codes of ethics. It would appear that Sweden today lags behind the US situation of 1995. When one investigates the special measures to support the inculcation of ethical values at the organizational level, there appears to be some shortfall. The supporting measures of ethics committees, ethics training committees, ethics training, ombudsman, an ethical audit and procedures to protect whistleblowers appear to be under-utilized in companies that possess codes. This lack of utilization tends to suggest that companies in Sweden, as yet, either have not developed a high commitment to supporting business ethics in their corporations, or they may have developed other methods to support their codes in their organizations that they view are as beneficial as the traditional methods practised in other western industrial democracies.

Research limitations/implications – This research was limited to internal ethical expectations. The commitment to business ethics is usually explored in terms of internal ethical expectations, but the simultaneous consideration of the external ethical expectations in the marketplace (e.g. among suppliers and customers or other publics) is desirable. A dyadic approach considering a company's internal ethical expectations and the external ethical expectations of a company's business activities may give a more balanced and in-depth approach.

Practical implications – Evidence is now available to show that codes of ethics are well developed in many of Sweden's largest corporations: organizations that, from their responses, appear to see a diverse range of benefits in developing the area of business ethics. Companies are beginning to implement not only a code of ethics, but other complementary initiatives that reinforce the need for the culture of the organization to be ethical. Codes of ethics are perceived by organizations to have assisted them in their dealings in the marketplace and many companies use their ethical values to underpin their strategic planning process. It appears that many companies now see the formalisation of business ethics as an integral part of their commercial practices.

Originality/value – This study is the first one of its kind on codes of ethics in corporate Sweden. It will enable all sectors of Swedish business to benchmark their efforts against the major companies in the Swedish corporate sector.

A new Brachiopod fauna from the early to middle permian of Southern Qinghai Province, Northwest China

A new brachiopod fauna is described from the Early and Middle Permian of Zadoi and Zhidoi counties, southern Qinghai (Changdu block), northwest China. This fauna includes 13 species in nine genera with Spinomarginifera concentrica n. sp. and Transennatia waterhousei n. sp. The Early to Middle Permian brachiopod fauna from southern Qinghai is very similar to the contemporary Cathaysian faunas of South China with which the new fauna shares 70 per cent of its species. On the other hand, the Qinghai brachiopods also demonstrate a significant link with the Permian brachiopod fauna of the Sino-Mongolian-Japanese Province in northeast China, as suggested by Marginifera septentrionalis and Attenuatella. In particular, the occurrence of the bipolar brachiopod genus Attenuatella suggests that southern Qinghai may have played an important role as a biogeographic stepping stone in the marine faunal interchanges between the northern and southern hemispheres during the Early and Middle Permian.

Barriers to continuing medical education in Australian prevocational doctors

To determine perceived barriers to continuing education for Australian hospital-based prevocational doctors, a cross sectional cohort survey was distributed to medical administrators for secondary redistribution to 2607 prevocational doctors from August 2003 to October 2004. Four hundred and seventy valid questionnaires (18.1%) were returned. Only seven per cent (33/470) did not identify any barriers to continuing education. Barriers identified the most were lack of time (85% [371/437]), clinical commitment (65% [284/437]), resistance from registrars (13% [57/437]) and resistance from consultant staff (10% [44/437]). Other barriers included workload issues (27% [27/98]), teaching program inadequacies (26% [25/98]), lack of protected time for education (17% [17/98]), motivational issues (11% [10/98]) and geographic remoteness (10% [10/98]). Australian graduates (87%) identified lack of time more frequently than international medical graduates (77%) (P=0.036). Perceived barriers did not differ significantly between doctors of differing postgraduate years.