Final answer:
The excessive media coverage of stories is referred to as Media Oversaturation, contributing to a condition called narcotizing dysfunction and leading to sensationalism and homogenized news narratives.
Step-by-step explanation:
The often excessive coverage by the media of every aspect of a story is referred to as Media Oversaturation. It can lead to viewers abandoning the news due to inundation of information, or becoming more suspicious and fatigued about topics like politics.
This narcotizing dysfunction, a term coined by Lazerfeld and Merton in 1948, implies that people become so overwhelmed with media input that they experience a kind of paralysis in terms of taking action because they are too saturated with information.
The nature of the media has evolved from providing information to engaging more in sensationalism, in pursuit of audience and advertising revenue, often spreading misinformation or homogeneous narratives.