Convention Coverage

The commonly cited number is that 15,000 media representatives covered the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.¹  Major news organizations made significant commitments of resources, sending reporters, editors, support staff and equipment to Tampa and Charlotte, and in some cases setting up elaborate spaces where they held events and programming and provided food for credentialled guests (examples included the CNN Grill, Bloomberg Link, Politico's Hub and HuffPost's Oasis).  In the print realm, several media outlets produced daily publications for those attending the conventions: the National Journal Convention Daily, a 32-page tabloid, Bloomberg Insider, a glossy 9"x12" 24-32 page magazine, The Hill, a 24-32 page tabloid, and the Washington Post, an abbreviated, convention-focused special edition in two sections (16 page front section and 6 page Style section). Politico teamed respectively with the Tampa Bay Times and the Charlotte Observer to produce multi-page supplements that wrapped around the regular papers.  The Wall Street Journal did not go so far as to produce a special publication, but highlighted its convention coverage with a "Convention Journal" graphic and page-wide, narrow horizontal photo strip above its nameplate.
1. Credentials are issued through the congressional galleries (Radio-Television, Daily Press, Periodical and Press Photographers).  Democracy in Action tried to pin down a precise number of credentials thorugh the galleries but found that was not possible for competitive reasons (one of the galleries was wary that making a number known could affect bargaining for credentials at a future convention) and complications such as affiliates.  When one considers the reporters, editors and support staff the total number is well in the thousands.  Also note that for the past couple of conventions there have been alternative spaces set up where bloggers and online media who are not credentialled through the galleries can set up for a fee (the space in Charlotte was The PPL).