President Trump raked in an estimated $5 billion in free media in the year leading up to the 2016 election, enjoying more free press than all the Democratic and Republican candidates combined.
It made sense, too: Trump is rude, crude, and immensely entertaining. Newsrooms claimed shock and disapproval, but none dared look away. The ratings and subscription numbers were too good.
In many ways, Michael Avenatti is the new Trump. The Orange County attorney, who represents former adult film actress Stormy Daniels, is the ringmaster of a particularly sleazy circus, and the press can’t get enough of it.
He has dominated newsrooms with his client’s titillating tales of an alleged affair with the president. He continues to leave reporters and pundits breathless with anticipation, despite that there have been few real news developments since this story first broke in January. Media have been rehashing essentially the same allegations all year, and there’s no clear end in sight. Yet all he has to do is tease a possible major development, or promise that some bombshell is just around the corner, and media come running.
Avenatti is rude and crude! It’s obscene and absurd! In other words, it’s a dream come true for media.
If you can believe it, Avenatti has done more than 100 media interviews in just the last 64 days, according to an analysis by the Washington Free Beacon. Sixty-five of those appearances were on CNN, plus 43 appearances on MSNBC.
Avenatti has done an estimated 20 interviews on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” 14 on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” 12 on CNN’s “New Day,” eight interview on CNN’s “Tonight with Don Lemon,” and seven on MSNBC’s “Deadline White House.”
Remember: This is all in a 64-day period.
“While many of Avenatti’s cable appearances have been one-on-one interviews, he has also appeared in several large panels on the programs and appeared on screen for lengths of time without speaking,” the Free Beacon noted.
Don’t forget Avenatti has also appeared on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Showtime’s “The Circus,” NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Today,” ABC’s “The View,” HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and network morning shows “Today,” “CBS This Morning,” and “Good Morning America.”
Two quick questions: First, where does Avenatti find the time to do his actual job? Maybe he’s just the face of his law firm, and some lesser-known grunt is doing all the real legal work. Second, what is the news benefit from these interviews? That is, if Avenatti is averaging one media appearance per day, he’s guaranteed to repeat himself. What’s the point of hosting a guest whose news value diminishes with each back-to-back-to-back-to-back interview?
Here’s the cherry on top: Avenatti’s 100-plus appearances since March 7 amount to roughly $174 million in free media, according to the Free Beacon.
It’s just like the 2016 election all over again in that media are being played hard by a man who knows how to manipulate a newsroom. The only difference here is that the obsessively covered public figure isn’t also running for office.
