This really isn't true, and I don't know where this narrative is coming from, unless all you're watching is right-wing media. The general media has actually become very hard on Trump, his campaign, and his surrogates. The panel discussions you're talking about always end up being a Trump surrogate being completely bodied by everyone else on the likes of CNN and MSNBC, for instance. Briana Keiler was waging basically a one woman army against Trump aids and their bullshit when she was sitting in for Wolf on The Situation Room. And the Trump campaign has been called out multiple times because of his flip-flopping and all that shit.
Are they as hard as they should be? No, I will concede to that. The interview Anderson Cooper had with Trump after his bigotry comment is a good example, he should have pressed Trump much harder than he did instead of just asking the same question 6 times.
Are they trying too hard to make this into a race by covering Clinton's negatives? Yes, I agree there, too.
But no one outside the right-wing media is just giving Trump a pass, especially since the general election started. It could be better in that sense, but all you have to do is go to YouTube and you'll see plenty of criticism towards Trump, his surrogates, and his campaign. It may not be as hard-hitting as you want, or as it should be, but it's still there.