Amidst the chaos that we call the presidential primaries, media outlets have turned into monotonous political parades.

In the 2016 presidential race in particular, Donald Trump has taken over these media outlets. If you turn on any news channel, you’ll see Trump. If you scroll through Facebook or Twitter, everyone’s talking about Trump. When he says something outrageous during a debate, news channels eat it up. When he causes controversy at a rally, the media can’t get enough of it.

Any chance for a candidate to get media attention can boost his or her chances in the primaries. Any opportunity to make their names well-known and their faces burnt into the backs of our minds is a helping hand for their campaigns. But when the media is so fixated on one particular candidate, even one that’s not so well-liked, it shifts the playing field for the other candidates. Trump is getting so much negative media attention that it has the ironic effect of making him a household name.

Trump is all people can talk about, yet not a lot of people have particularly good things to say about him. On Tuesday, March 15, which was referred to as the second Super Tuesday, all major media outlets covered Trump’s speech over Bernie Sanders’s. Neither speech contained anything distinguished — both candidates delivered their stump speeches. Yet Sanders’s speech was nowhere to be seen, and instead we were spoon-fed another occasion of Trump’s self-accolades.

It’s clear that when candidates are facing Trump for media coverage, they will lose out every time. Even Hillary Clinton, the center of major ongoing controversies, and Trump’s fellow Republican candidates can’t keep up with his media attention. And who can blame him? The man has built his campaign on smooth talk and flamboyance; no news channel would pass up the opportunity to cover his controversial speeches and rallies in all their glory. Whether he’s putting on an act or not, the media’s tendency to buy into his agenda is reason enough for him to continue his riotous schemes.

When so many people are outraged by the prospect of Trump being president, it raises the question as to why he gets so much news time. The truth is that the media’s obsession over the candidate isn’t about seeing the real side of Trump — everyone knows who he is and what he’s about, and he doesn’t need the media to help him deliver his message. News channels will always prioritize Trump because they know his contentious rhetoric reels in ratings.

The media’s agenda is palpable; after all, its hesitance to cover Sanders is in its best interests — the candidate’s plan to break up corporate-owned media is no secret. http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-media-ownership-and-telecommunications/

Given news agencies’ well-known businesslike tendencies, the media’s plans may be obvious, but the consequences of their greed result in Trump’s unfortunate rise in fame. Their swayed news coverage also brings into question how much influence the media has on uninformed voters. When Trump’s face is plastered on every news channel, it’s hard for voters to tell whether he’s being praised or censured.

Trump’s supporters are entranced by him because of his blatancy and incendiary inclinations, but behind his facade is ignorance, petulance and bigotry. When the media features these accounts on a continuous loop, they further encourage his actions and the people who support him, and blur the lines between noteworthy news and advocating Trump’s campaign.

This won’t be the last time that Trump will be covered on the news instead of another serious candidate. Even during his relatively normal speeches, news channels will cover him in anticipation for something profoundly offensive coming out of his mouth.

What follows will be the endless talk among news anchors about how Trump must be stopped, oblivious to the fact that they are a part of the system that keeps Trump’s campaign on its feet.

Isabella is a freshman in ACES.

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