All eyes are on Denver this week for the convention. With 15,000 journalists roaming area surrounding the Pepsi Center for scoops, there’s no shortage of stories pouring out of the Mile High city. But pumping out informative —and hopefully entertaining —pieces isn’t just a matter of being in the right place at the right time (OK, well sometimes it is that simple…). Months of planning, and often weeks of on-site set-up go into delivering the fanfare to television stations, computer screens and doorsteps across the world.

The result? A media circus that risks dramatically distorting the comings-and-goings of the convention and remains out-of-touch with the lives going on outside the bubble of satellite cable network studios. Sure, “Convention Uncut” wouldn’t rake in huge ratings, but giving the public more than just the flash and flair of the nightly keynote extravaganza would probably give the public a batter sense of the pageantry that is our political system.

Watch as Joe, who has been on-site for more than two weeks setting up shop for PBS shares what it’s like to experience the convention from the inside-out.

Video and editing by Torey Van Oot

Tags: PBS, Pepsi Center