Television coverage of the National political conventions

IF ONE were to indicate in a single word the over-all characteristic of the 1952 Democratic and Republic political conventions, it would be difficult to avoid choosing “quantity.” From a political standpoint, certainly at no other event in recent history was manifest the number of candidates, the number of delegates, the number of committees, or the number of commentaries by a not inconsiderable group of reporters. However, the most striking application of this word is to the means by which the first large-scale television coverage of these events was provided over such an extended period of time. The concentration of equipment and personnel in Chicago, Ill., during this period was unprecedented for any event, making the television camera as all-pervading as was the microphone at previous conventions. This was most graphically illustrated at the Republican convention after General Eisenhower was selected as candidate. There were cameras at his suite in the Blackstone Hotel, cameras to cover his exit from the hotel as he departed on his trip to the Amphitheatre, cameras along the street as he made his journey, cameras outside the Amphitheatre, ad infinitum.