Well, here in the U.S. of A. we had many months of the media providing outsized coverage of the Trumpster in the Republican nomination contest, to the extent that he spent virtually nothing on advertising. This includes the Wall Street Journal and Fox News, both of which seem to legitimately hate him. As the field has narrowed down to now five candidates with only three being seen as potential winners, my own sense is that coverage is more even across Trump, Rubio and Cruz.
My guess is that the media covered Trump extensively for the simple reason that it drove readership and viewers. Trump is a master at self promotion; he is, after all, a reality TV star and a brand licensing operator (at one time he tried to be a big real estate dealer, but he seemed to mostly loose money at it, especially for others).
I don't believe for a minute that the government was in anyway incenting the media to report on Trump; the Democrats who control the executive branch clearly don't like him, and the Republicans who control the Congress like him even less.
