During lunch I was listening to This Week in Tech, which debates whether Facebook influenced the election and/or what is Facebook's responsibilities. The issues are two fold, one is how citizens use information to make decisions and the other is how media companies use information to make money. Fundamental economic issues of scarcity and motivation are very much at play. 

I think there is a more fundamental question of economics as it applies to the press and its obligations under the first amendment, and Facebook and all other information services are involved to the extent that citizens use them to gain information.

The economic perspective is one of motivation, Facebook, Twitter, the New York Times, and the Washington Post are all corporations that exist to make profits. 

In my opinion in terms of the Trump use of media, he is very smart in exploiting the motivations of media corporations. Media companies make money from attention to advertising. Trump's outrageous comments draw attention, and therefore media is motivated to cover as much Trump as possible.