The coverage disparities are — and have been — staggering. See “Why Do CNN, MSNBC Cover Trump Three Times As Much As Fox Does?” Various studies have shown cable channels covering Trump three times as much as all other candidates combined. One cable network gave Trump 70 percent of all their mentions of GOP candidates.

Confessore defends these disparities by saying Trump’s been the front-runner since the summer. But there are multiple problems with this, the most obvious being that they began their outsized coverage of him before he even announced, and that disparities in quantity of coverage — and we are not even talking about the quality of same — have compounding returns. The first poll that actually counted was a poll that Trump lost — but nothing prior or subsequent to the Iowa caucus changed the dynamic of around-the-clock breathless coverage of the media’s favorite candidate.

It’s not that candidates should get equal time, but let’s not pretend that there was any sense of proportion to the Trump media circus this past year. Trump is a smart campaigner, exploiting each and every weakness in American media for his gain. And his supporters are happy to have him. He’s earned his success. But I’ll be darned if the media want to pretend they didn’t play a huge role in his easy path to the nomination.