One term that especially sticks out in my memory from my first semester communication course is “amplification.” In a communication context, the word amplification refers to when all news sources cover the same event, the result is an amplification of the importance of the event. When a tragedy occurs, news consumers (that’s us) see coverage of it when we turn on the television, look at our Facebook newsfeed, or turn our eyes to any newspaper or magazine. It’s EVERYWHERE.

Social media has made news amplification bigger than ever, blowing news events out of proportion, to no fault of the individual news sources. It’s as simple as this: when every news source in America is covering the same event, it appears to the general public as something much larger than it actually is, because coverage of the event appears everywhere you turn. From the magazines you see on the newsstands while standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, to the reports you see on the nightly news, when big news events and tragedies occur, coverage of the event is nearly impossible to escape, especially with the growing power of social media.

The power of social media not only influences how informed we are of what’s going on in the world, it warps our perception of how much control we have of what’s going on in the world. We have been fooled into thinking that changing our Facebook profile picture to reflect certain colors, using certain hashtags, and using certain emojis can make a difference in the world. Sure, it changes what your social media profile looks like when you use hashtags to express your support for certain causes and those affected by tragedies, and it may change how others perceive you, but it is a false perception that using certain hashtags will change the world. We are reminded of the Orlando shooting, for example, every time we navigate to YouTube, where a rainbow heart has been placed next to the YouTube logo.

While social media and the phenomenon of media amplification are definitely contributors to the problem, that’s not what’s wrong with news culture. What’s wrong with American news culture is this: repetition. Even news events with mediocre importance are repeatedly covered for about a week after the initial occurrence. This isn’t how news is supposed to be. The initial purpose of the news was to report an event as soon as it happened, and then immediately move onto the next event. While some events, such as the Stanford rape case, have continuous updates that change the status of the case, and must be repeatedly reported on in order to provide correct updates to the public, one-time events that have no updates after the event occurs should not be repeatedly reported over and over again up to weeks after the event.

This phenomenon, which means that one event can remain in headlines and trending on social media for weeks after it happens, gives a new meaning to media amplification. By reporting the same event over and over again, with no changes or updates, news sources amplify these events in a huge way. Take the Harambe gorilla case, for example. The public is forbidden from moving on from the event or forgetting about it until the news media decides it’s time to put the event to rest. And as long as the event is still trending on social media, people are going to keep talking about it, not only on Facebook and Twitter, but in person with their friends as well. Whatever is trending sets an agenda for what people are going to be talking about that week. And if news sources want people to keep talking about an event, such as the tragic shooting in Orlando, the event isn’t going to stop trending. Social media allows news sources to amplify news in ways that weren’t possible before. News has even extended its reach into the wildly popular Snapchat; in the newest update of the app, media such as Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, National Geographic, People, and ESPN have little icons at the top of the Snapchat Story screen, where teasing photos and headlines seek to capture clicks by Snapchat users there to view their own and friends’ stories.

News has become impossible to ignore in the internet age. The same events are tirelessly covered until all information has been exhausted by every major news network. So although it may be too late to de-amplify the news culture, take note of what’s going on in the American news culture. Be aware.