Reuters’ mobile journalism project, which is no longer using the catchy “MoJo” moniker, is reprising its Davos roving-reporter experiment at the Democratic and upcoming Republican conventions - but without a cell phone in sight. While its mobile efforts to date - including packages from TV reporter Matt Cowan and equipping World Economic Forum attendees to do mobile interviews - relied upon the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95, this time the news agency has ditched the handset in favor of better-quality video recorders. Out goes the ‘95 and in come video cameras, Flip Cams and Sanyo HDs, each handed to more than 40 delegates.

SEE ALSO: @ Reuters Mobile Journalism Roundtable: Rolling Out The MoJo, Planning For HD Mobiles

The result is much the same - insightful interviews shot by interested participants on the ground in Denver and St Paul - but the quality is much better. Videos are displayed on Reuters’ Tales From The Trail blog, on YouTube (NSDQ: GOOG) and HuffPo’s Off The Bus, as well as the websites of College Republicans, Young Republicans and Democrats Abroad.

Update: Reuters.com US editor Adam Pasick told me: “Just wanted to mention that we just used Nokia devices at the Beijing Olympics and will continue to do so where appropriate. There is no WiFi and little 3G coverage at the conventions so we made the decision to use the Flip Cams for ‘Inside the Tent’, our mobile citizen journalism project. The Flip Minos don’t have any connectivity but are less expensive and provide video quality that is comparable to the Nokia devices. The Sanyos HD cameras weren’t distributed to our citizen journalists, but are being used by Reuters (NYSE: TRI) text reporters to augment their coverage.”

Video here of me moderating Reuters’ Matt Cowan and Mark Jones at Social Media Influence.