The West Wing

Dayton Papers

Description

Dayton Papers publish the title of C.J. Cregg's high school reunion speech, 'The Promise of a Generation.' Reporters cite the paper twice during a late-night White House briefing, pressing C.J. on her attendance amid jokes and deflections. The outlet supplies regional details that spark national questions, pulling C.J.'s family crisis—her father's decline—into public view. It operates as a local print source feeding White House press corps with personal news on administration staff.

Event Involvements

Events with structured involvement data

2 events
S4E13 · The Long Goodbye
Night Briefing — Jokes, Dodges, and the Real Reason

The Dayton Papers functions as the local information source that supplies the press corps with the speech title. That citation converts a regional detail into national curiosity and helps pry open C.J.'s private plans.

Active Representation

Manifested indirectly via a reporter's citation: 'It's in the Dayton papers.'

Power Dynamics

A small local outlet that nevertheless influences national reporting by providing a detail reporters can exploit.

Institutional Impact

Demonstrates how local journalism can force national staffers into explaining personal plans, eroding privacy and amplifying personal matters into public news.

Organizational Goals
Inform the local community about the reunion and its speakers Break local coverage that might be picked up by larger outlets
Influence Mechanisms
Publishing local facts that national reporters can use Shaping the narrative by releasing otherwise private details into public circulation
S4E13 · The Long Goodbye
Toby Forces C.J. to Dayton

The Dayton Papers function as the local media source that published the reunion speech title, providing the factual hook reporters use to press C.J. Their reporting collapses private planning into public knowledge and triggers the exchange.

Active Representation

Manifested through a reporter's citation: 'It's in the Dayton papers,' bringing local reportage into the national briefing.

Power Dynamics

Local press exerts informational influence over national discourse by supplying details the White House must address.

Institutional Impact

Demonstrates how local journalism can expose private plans of national staff, amplifying the permeability between private life and public office.

Organizational Goals
Report local events and public figures' activities Inform local readership and potentially attract national attention Hold local institutions and residents accountable
Influence Mechanisms
Publishing local details that national press can amplify Serving as an information source for reporters Using print publication as evidence in questioning officials