As the Democratic convention ends and the Republican convention is about to get underway, the one constant will be the media — either en route to or already broadcasting from St. Paul.

And one of the constants of the media presence is the set up — large tents and small trailers that house all aspects of broadcasting the news. TVNewser stopped by ABC's tent and got a tour of the various departments housed in the big tent.

At one computer, ABC News correspondent and Weekend GMA anchor Kate Snow was writing her story for that night's broadcast. Snow begins reporting from her sixth convention Monday. "Each one is a little different," she tells TVNewser.

Echoing the sentiment of many of the ABC News crew, Snow described the over-orchestration of the event.

"They're held in large part for the people at home," she said. "And we, the media, are part of the show. So it is a little hard."

Nightline's Terry Moran was also at work on the other side of the tent. He described Nightline's role at the conventions, and how ABC News compares to the cablers.

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TVNewser commenter NotsoAnonymous reminds us that VP candidate Gov. Sarah Palin is a former TV reporter. After receiving a journalism degree from the University of Idaho, Palin worked briefly as a sports reporter for TV stations in Anchorage.

And, like some other TVNewsers, she's also a former beauty queen. Palin was Miss Wasilla 1984 and a runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant that year.

After her vacation last week, CNBC's Maria Bartiromo traveled to Alaska to interview Gov. Sarah Palin. The interview, which took place on Monday, was focused on issues of the economy and drilling in Alaska for use in a broader special on oil. Bartiromo did ask Palin whether she was in the running for McCain's VP slot. Palin told Bartiromo that she and McCain "had talked."

The interview will air later today on Closing Bell at 4pmET on CNBC.

> Update: Bartiromo on MSNBC at 11:55amET: "When I talked to people about her, they were praising her. They said the first thing she did was get rid of the plane, the cooks and the help. She didn't want this elitist attitude. She said, 'I'm going to travel commercial. My kids aren't going to eat this food from this chef'. She tried to appeal to the masses."

> More: The CNBC transcript is after the jump...

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In an incredibly well-kept secret only confirmed by the U.S. media less than 90 minutes before the official announcement, John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Fox News was first with the news at 10:35:07amET, CNN was next at 10:36:14 and MSNBC followed at 10:37:40. FNC's Carl Cameron reporting, "We have got it. A senior McCain campaign official has given official confirmation to Fox News." The FNC confirmation followed reporting from sources "backstage" telling a Fox News producer that Palin was the pick.

CBS' Kelly Wallace anchored a special report for the network at 10:39; ABC's special report went up a few seconds later with Charlie Gibson anchoring, and the Today show's Matt Lauer anchored an NBC News special report that began at 10:40.

With less than two and a half hours until his official announcement, TV journalists are scrambling to confirm that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is his pick for Vice President. Fox News and NBC News are confirming that Govs. Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney are out of the running, with Palin's name surfacing onto the news networks just this morning.

At 7:10am Fox News reported a plane had left Anchorage overnight en route to Ohio. CNN reported Palin's name in the mix at 7:37am. MSNBC began discussing her name a couple minutes later. But by 7:57am, on Morning Joe, NBC's Washington bureau chief Mark Whitaker said, "Our David Gregory is just reporting that his sources within the McCain campaign are telling him 'no'" about a Palin pick. Still, Palin's name played prominently for the next hour.

Then at 9:14, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough reported, "Joe Lieberman is in Dayton."

So, as of 9:30amET, no one has confirmed a pick. The McCain campaign is doing a heck of a job making sure the reporters can't report, only speculate.

And, is it us, or does Palin look a bit like TV president Mackenzie Allen, played by Gena Davis in the short-lived 2005-06 ABC show "Commander-in-Chief?"

Chris Wallace said it was "an exceedingly smart speech." Howard Wolfson "thought it was great." Even Pat Buchanan called it "a genuinely outstanding speech".

But the AP's Charles Babington, often a guest on MSNBC programs, wasn't as enthusiastic in his analysis of Barack Obama's acceptance speech, and Keith Olbermann called him out on it.

• Read Babington's story here and judge for yourself...

> More: E&P reports Babington's original article had the length of the speech at 35 minutes. But "a few minutes later, the AP copy showing up at news sites had been corrected to '44 minutes.'"

There'll be no rest for the morning shows.

With many staffers returning from Denver, before leaving for St. Paul, there's the matter of a media softball game. The Today show takes on Good Morning America in the final game of the season today at Noon in New York's Central Park.

Brit Hume: "It is clear from the response you are seeing that this audience clearly feels that this is the man and this speech has met the challenge of this venue and this speech was all that he wanted it to be."

Keith Olbermann: "Vote for him or do not, but take pride that this nation can produce men and speakers such as that. For 42 minutes not a sour note and spell binding throughout, in a way usually reserved for the creations of fiction."

Chris Wallace: "I thought it was an exceedingly smart speech in which Barack Obama played both offense and defense very effectively."

Campbell Brown: "What you heard was very down there, plain spoken, no BS, if you will."

Chris Matthews: "It was a great way of throwing back the best shot and saying [the other side] is full of crap. I've been criticized for saying he inspires me...To hell with my critics."

Howard Wolfson: "I think someone may have put some Obama-koolaid into my water here. I thought it was great."

Pat Buchanan: "It was a genuinely outstanding speech. It was magnificent. It is the finest ... this the greatest acceptance speech... this wasn't a liberal speech this is a deeply, deeply centrist speech."

About an hour before Sen. Barack Obama took the stage:



Click continued to see the reaction to Obama's first appearance at Invesco, from the field, and some more pics (and a potential Veep spoiler)...

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Megyn Kelly has small ear canals, or she tells the NYObserver's Felix Gillette. Talking about her first turn on the convention floor for Fox News (turn two comes next week in St. Paul) Kelly says "It's good for the human spirit just to be in the middle of all that positive energy."

As for the ear canals. "You have to go to the ear doctor," said Ms. Kelly. "You get these molds. I have small ear canals, they tell me. So it's even harder for me to get these things in my ears."

Kelly also answered four questions (that sounds familiar) for Glamour, including: "So, were you always interested in politics, or were you more interested in journalism?"

I felt the call to this industry because I enjoy broadcast journalism. I'm steeped in the news because I enjoy the news — I like reading papers, I like reading the blogs, I love talking to newsmakers and pundits, for that matter, about their opinions. I'm an information gatherer by nature, so that's what attracted me about this industry.

CNN hosted an event in New York's Times Square tonight — an event which culminated with a live viewing of the Obama speech. More than 500 people packed inside the gates but hundreds more surrounded the perimeter. One onlooker tells TVNewser it was "downright eerie, totally silent," with the only voice heard being Obama's. CNN will host a similar Times Square event next Thursday for John McCain's acceptance speech from St. Paul.

(Photo: David Reisner, digital producer for AC360.)

Some pictures from Invesco:





Click continued for more...

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TVDecoder's Brian Stelter crunched the numbers for the DNC and found "the audience for political coverage on cable news has nearly doubled since the last election, demonstrating the gradual shift in audience from broadcast to cable."

CNN has been the big winner in both Total Viewers and the ad-friendly A25-54 demo in prime time, while FNC has come in second each night in Total Viewers. Fox News and MSNBC have gone back and forth for second in the demo: MSNBC won Monday and Wednesday, FNC won Tuesday.

Meanwhile, FoxNews.com has broken records on the Web. Until this week, the site had never broken the 30 million daily page view mark. The site had approximately 31.5 million page views on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Fox News anchors have been participating in the online "Strategy Room" which is up 24 hours a day.

Attitude and an accent — that's what Rome Hartman says he wants to bring to convention coverage.

As EP of BBC World News America, the former CBS' Evening News EP is covering his first convention as an employee of the Beeb.

TVNewser talked to Hartman this morning outside the BBC News workspace about media bias, the upcoming Republican Convention, Katie Couric and more:

The CNN grill has been a hotbed of activity during the Democratic National Convention.

Jamie Foxx and Ashley Judd caused a stir when they stopped by last night, and Spike Lee took up an afternoon seat outside. Even non-CNN tvnewsers frequent the Grill — we've spotted CBS' Jeff Greenfield multiple times.

And last night, around 1amET, CNN commentators Donna Brazile and Roland Martin started up their own dance party, courtesy of the Jackson 5. Click continued to see the action (and to see another CNN commentators reaction)...

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