For every story printed in the papers or played on TV, there are hundreds ignored. The media definitely skews the news to "guide" people toward a preferred viewpoint and emotional response. I watch just enough to get a feel for what they want me to think and how they want me to respond, which is usually very different from what's true and what's good for my family and me.
An example would be the way the local news has daily reporting of as much "gun violence" as they can find. The directed viewpoint is very very obvious: guns are dangerous, be afraid. But what I get from it is: guns are protection, be prepared. And even that is a little skewed, since the reported "gun violence" rarely happens anywhere I would ever go anyway.
Of course, if they wanted to push a slightly different viewpoint, all they would need to do is also report on defensive training in the area. But when they do report on defensive training it's invariably some moron teaching a room full of women how to stab a would be rapist in the eye with their car keys - and how to get themselves killed in the process.