As a reminder that media coverage of Political conventions hasn't really changed all that much since broadcasting got started, here is a one hour snapshot from June 26, 1936 at the Democratic National Convention.
On this evening there were seconding speeches, and pleas from the Chairman to keep the hyperbole down to five minutes apiece. On this evening too, there was sufficient boredom going on in the broadcast studio that such journalistic greats as H.V. Kaltenborn and Edward R. Murrow were reduced to interviewing delegates to find out which was the youngest at the convention - and in Murrow's case, interviewing the on-site barber to get the "scoop" on "just what goes on in a barber shop during a convention". Pretty weighty stuff, but no less strange than the endless trivia and human interest stories we deal with now.
So here is the last hour of the convention day for June 26th 1936, the seconding speeches, as presented by CBS Radio, hosted by Robert Trout.
