This week, Boston will play host to a potpourri of pollsters, pundits and protesters arriving for the Democratic National Convention. Some say the party conventions are now little more than four-day, federally funded infomercials. Others say the conventions are a vital exercise in American democracy, one of the few opportunities for the public to gain exposure to the party's principles, platforms and nominees. What issues will be debated - and what issues, despite their importance, will remain unaddressed? How will media coverage of the conventions affect the way issues, nominees and platforms are viewed by the American people?

• The media is a fickle mistress: In the summer of 2002, the St. Petersburg Times said John Kerry was a man with "an easy manner and good looks," who might soften "wooden" Al Gore, a politician whose "charisma [might] rub off on [Gore]." Just two years later, the Times charged, "…rarely do [Democrats] have much to say about [Kerry's] personal appeal or charisma."

The event will even introduce a new hybrid of journalist and policy wonk: the blogger. For the first time, press credentials will be issued to about 30 so-called bloggers, stay-at-home political junkies who post their own running commentary on personal websites that are often randy, often gossipy, but gaining in popularity, especially with young voters.

Some issues have been included in the parties' platforms to mobilize "swing voters:" youth, women, African Americans and Latinos. The Kerry-Edwards campaign has spent a record $2 million on advertising aimed at the African American community, following a $1 million Hispanic effort in "battleground" states. What are the issues of concern to each group? How, if at all, will the media cover "third-rail" issues like welfare reform, affirmative action and abortion?

With TV convention coverage expected to be the thinnest in modern memory, will public interest wane -- or will the public seek out other unconventional sources to follow the events? What issues will media makers play up, and which will they downplay? What influence do bloggers and internet coverage have in parties' success in reaching youth, women and other potential "swing" voters? Will voters pose the hard questions that the media are unwilling to ask?