TT Facelift

As a bit of a rev-head, I was excited to see that Audi has finally released an R-Series model of it popular TT model.

Courtesy of AUSmotive.com

The TT RS brings images of Audi's Group B rally cars and the infamous Audi Quattro to mind with is stylised nose and flares.  Sporting the blood red "R-Series" badge on the left tail light, the TT RS produces a brisk 250kw of power with 450Nm of torque, which the Courier Mail's motoring reporter Isaac Bober says can make it to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds. If you have been keeping up, that is the same time that this car's V8 father (Audi's awesome R8) does it in. Simply astounding.

The tech's have remodelled their brilliant 2.2L 5 cylinder turbo for the TT, giving it the aforementioned grunt and a noise that Bober says is "orgasmic to the ears."

There are mixed reviews for the TT RS. Mostly positive, yet there are a few who suggest that you may as well pay the extra $80, 000 for the R8 V10. Not too sure why though. Bober is in agreeance, mentioning in his article that the TT RS has "no equal under $150,000"

The R8 V10 is my dream car and I would never trash its high reputation, yet if I didn't have a spare 80 grand to upgrade, I would buy the TTRS in a heartbeat.

The online British motoring show "Autocar" seem to believe that the TT RS can easily keep up with its father in the corners, however when it comes to a straight line the V10 absolutely destroys the 5 cylinder.

In conclusion the TT RS fills the gap in Audi's R-Series. In the past, the audi performance branch has been a little hot and cold, with the RS4 being a complete success but dropping away with a wild, untamed RS5. I believe the Audi magicians have got the mixture of crazy and tech right in the TT.

If only I was legally allowed to drive it...

Steve Molks

A tribute to bloggers everywhere, the infamous Steve Molks presented a guest lecture on how you represent yourself and breaking into the business.

Originally striving for the ranks of Forensic Science, Steve Molks' love of TV has driven him to start and maintain now one of the most talked about blogs on the internet in Brisbane and most certainly Australia. (http://molkstvtalk.com/)

He talked about how the ease of access and desire to have an opinion lead him to get started, however his stronger words resonated around the issue of representing yourself and creating your own image as a reporter/blogger.

He said that different media outlets have different agendas to maintain, so being "unsigned" means you can report on the news/issues that you believe should be reported on. He said "publish what you want" as it is up to you to create your own brand and label. Become known for a certain type of reporting or reporting in a certain field.

The one key aspect I got from Molks' lecture was to stay disciplined in what you do. If you wish to release a blog weekly, then stick to it. Stick to your desired field and keep active so people don't forget who you are.

Agenda Setting

As established in the lecture, there are four kinds of Agendas to be aware of. Being the Public Agenda, Policy Agenda, Corporate Agenda and the Agenda of the Media, with all four being interrelated. With Coleman, McCombs, Shaw and Weaver's definition in mind I would like to adopt a national point of view for this post. (I.e. What international news are we missing based on the agenda of the media?)

First of all, it is a given that media outlets have their own agendas. Whether it be a political allegiance, a patron of the outlet or monetary/legal agendas, news outlets will tell you what they want you to hear. I also believe there is another agenda that outlets tend to adopt. The National Agenda. A combination of he Public and Media agenda, the privileging of national stories is generally accepted in the respective nations.
However, for international news, sometimes the only means of seeing what has made the front page overseas is going to their online sites. This brings me back to my original point about us being excluded from news overseas.

An example of this can be taken from the ABC's 7pm news last week. Shocking news about neo-nazi riots at EURO2012 was sidelined over local news stories. In my opinion, stories of racial hate should supersede stories about Newman's scrapped parliamentary initiatives.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4004416/Race-hate-threat-to-England-fans.html

I can understand why local and national stories take priority over international news (much like Web 3.0) as local residents want to see news that will directly effect them (the Public Agenda). However I believe mainstream news outlets should have dedicated time for international news. After all, the world does not revolve around Australia.