This excerpt from "Pre-suasion" illustrates how media shapes opinions and if you think about it more broadly - manufactures crises.

Really good reading if you want to learn about human behavior.

“The central tenet of agenda-setting theory is that the media rarely produce change directly, by presenting compelling evidence that sweeps an audience to new positions; they are much more likely to persuade indirectly, by giving selected issues and facts better coverage than other issues and facts. It’s this coverage that leads audience members—by virtue of the greater attention they devote to certain topics—to decide that these are the most important to be taken into consideration when adopting a position.”