Political junkies' toy

Sprint and ABC are hoping the newest toy for political junkies will be MobiTV, provided through ABC News and Sprint mobile phone service. Theoretically, MobiTV users can get real-time audio of the events leading up to the November election, including the political conventions, and -- pay close attention to this part -- video, too. The catch is the video will show up on your tiny, 2-inch cellphone screen at the rate of one frame per second, giving the picture of Peter Jennings a decidedly jerky feel and at roughly the quality you might see in a homemade flip book. ABC says it's the only television network providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of the 2004 convention on your cellphone. MobiTV has been handed out to a few ABC folks at the convention, but who else will be watching? Apparently no one. The Sprint PCS website doesn't have a link to MobiTV.

-- Devin Bramhall

On the web
For a glimpse at how newspapers around the world are covering the convention, go to Todays Front Pages at www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages. An online version of a popular exhibit at the Newseum, a journalism museum in Washington, D.C., the site provides front pages of more than 250 newspapers. Updated every morning, the pages are available in full color. You can search for your favorite paper alphabetically or by region.

Bias watch
In the run-up to the convention, Boston newspapers at times have been negative. The Globe panned a goodie bag for delegates (''Bland in Boston"). Buried under headlines of police unrest, lawsuits, and computer threats were ideas for ''enjoying the week." The Herald labels its coverage ''DNC MESS." Bill Walczak of the Dorchester Reporter: ''People are going to leave Boston and say, Jeez, that seems like a quiet town with a million police officers around."

Where newsies get news
Where do the journalists get their news? CNN senior analyst Jeff Greenfield loves blogger Chris Suellentrop of Slate, the online magazine (http://slate.com). He also likes Slate's Mickey Kaus and the Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com), Instapundit (www.instapundit.com), Andrew Sullivan (www.andrewsullivan.com), Wonkette (www.wonkette.com), and TalkingPoints (www.talkingpointsmemo.com). John Fox Sullivan shrugged off the question in favor of promoting his National Journal magazines' daily newspaper at the convention while schmoozing with TV talk show host John McLaughlin at The New York Times party near the Public Garden. ''It's 48 pages!" Sullivan said.