Toby's Antitrust Threat Secures Full Convention Coverage
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Toby re-enters the meeting with media directors, presenting a counter-offer demanding full convention coverage.
Toby asserts the public's ownership of airwaves and the media's legal obligation, escalating the confrontation.
Toby threatens antitrust violations, shifting the power dynamic as media directors consider legal repercussions.
Toby delivers a passionate plea for democratic transparency, contrasting media cynicism with civic duty.
The standoff concludes with media directors conceding to consult lawyers, marking Toby's strategic victory.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Wary skepticism hardening into accusatory resistance.
Media Director 2 probes Toby's demand with curt 'Why?', later accuses broadcasters of conspiring against money-losing programming, embodying defensive network pushback in the huddle of executives facing White House pressure.
- • Resist expansive coverage demands to protect profits
- • Expose flaws in Toby's legal threats
- • Broadcasters prioritize profitable programming over public interest
- • No legal precedent forces full convention airtime
Righteously indignant, fueled by principled fury masking campaign desperation.
Toby re-enters forcefully, delivers counter-demand for full convention coverage, systematically counters challenges with legal arguments on airwaves, FCC, and antitrust threats, culminating in a raw, passionate plea invoking democratic spectacle of leaders and balloons amid no horse races.
- • Secure gavel-to-gavel convention airtime
- • Intimidate media into compliance via legal threats
- • Public owns airwaves and deserves unfiltered political access
- • Media collusion violates antitrust laws and public interest
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Roosevelt Room serves as the high-stakes battleground where Toby re-enters to confront media directors, chairs scraping amid verbal salvos that escalate from demands to threats and pleas, forging a concession that amplifies Bartlet's voice against crisis shadows.
San Diego is cited alongside New York as a convention venue without horse race interference, reinforcing Toby's vision of gavel-to-gavel broadcasts capturing leaders' voices cutting through to the nation in this pivotal media negotiation.
New York is invoked by Toby as a key convention site sans distracting horse races, underscoring the demand for pure political spectacle where leaders connect directly with the public, heightening stakes in the airtime battle.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Toby's skepticism about Bruno's strategy mirrors his later passionate plea for democratic transparency, showing his consistent values."
"Toby's initial clash with media directors over convention coverage escalates into a full-blown antitrust threat to secure public airwaves."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"MEDIA DIRECTOR 1: "We understand you have a counter offer." TOBY: "Yeah. You broadcast all four nights of the convention.""
"TOBY: "Cause if you don't the Justice Department is going to investigate you for anti-trust violation." MEDIA DIRECTOR 4: "Anti-trust violation?""
"TOBY: "There isn't going to be a horse race to cover, either in New York or San Diego, but we gave you the air waves for free 70 years ago... showing our leaders talking to us... And then th-the balloons.""