According to the Columbia Journalism Review, approximately 15,000 journalists showed up in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. But if you have been watching the news for the past 18 months, you might think that there is nothing important lying on the outcome of this election.

This could possibly be the most historic election of our lifetime, but the media circus — particularly the bloviating talking heads on 24/7 cable TV news — has focused mostly on the soap opera surrounding the personalities and the campaign spin, not on the issues.

It’s the latest children’s cartoon: Political Circus. Meet the blue donkey doing jumping jacks through flaming hoops and the red elephant with a comb-over standing hind-legged on an American-flagged drum.

Just as children’s programs have a lesson hiding away in repetitive song and dance, media coverage amplifies the talking points and campaign slogans in a way that leads the public to assume that they are actually reporting the news.

Conventions are somewhat guilty of the sensationalism that they receive in the press, making a spectacle out of parliamentary procedure. It’s the party’s quadrennial chance for major publicity and they are getting their money’s worth. It was reminiscent of a Grammy award ceremony, with guest speakers, celebrity-style introductions and cheesy music (the Democratic National Convention played U2’s “Beautiful Day” for Obama’s entrance).

In the past, conventions provided drama because there were powerful men in smoke-filled rooms behind closed doors hashing out deals to select the nominee. But today they are little more than a coronation (i.e., crowning the king).

The national conventions formally elect a candidate and the media takes the golden opportunity to sell 24 hours worth of advertising around “news” content.

No matter who wins, history has already been made. But we are living through historic times and the serious issues confronting our nation should not be put on the back burner.

The next president will face the twin threats of terrorism and global warming. He will have to confront an energy crisis with oil prices skyrocketing and our addiction to foreign oil, health care, and economic crises.

He will have to deal with a war on two fronts.

He will have to address joblessness and the outsourcing of jobs, immigration and education.

There are a lot of Constitutional questions raised by the Bush Administration that the next president will be expected to address. For example, there are serious concerns about what direction our nation is taking after the revelations about Abu Ghraib.

Covering these issues should be a priority. The world doesn’t take a vacation because there is a convention going on, and neither should the press and the politicians.

But the media have a short attention span. And it is easily distracted by glittery things. So during the campaign we hear about fist bumps and lapel pins.

Obama has been THE story. He gets more coverage than McCain. But, McCain often gets a pass. The media tends to overlook his gaffes. They weren’t overly concerned when he conflated Shiite Iran and Sunni Al Qaeda.

The big “story” during the Democratic National Convention was whether Hillary and Bill would finally rally around the nominee and whether Hillary’s supporters would hold their noses and vote for Obama or switch parties and vote for McCain.

Commentators at MSNBC and CNN discussed this “story” nonstop and Fox News shamelessly pandered to Hillary in an attempt to sabotage Obama.

But ultimately, both Clintons gave supportive and well-received speeches and a reporter on the convention floor, who actually interviewed delegates, couldn’t find a single one that wasn’t voting for Obama.

It often seems like the media has an agenda. The talking heads use the conventions as a backdrop to spew their own opinions. But the role of journalism is to inform the public so they can make decisions. It is up to readers, viewers and listeners to demand more from the media.

Just give us the facts. We can form our own opinions.