It’s not real to people unless they see it on TV. That is their measure, and in a way, it is most people’s measure. It’s not real unless everyone is talking about it and the only way to judge if everyone is talking about it is if they are talking about it on TV. That has changed a bit with the Internet, but the Internet is tricky because people are never sure if what they are reading or watching on the Internet is “everyone” or “just them”. And since we all know how the Internet allows people to create their own rabbit holes, even if everyone is talking about something on the Internet, if it’s not on TV, then it’s somehow not real. Even if your entire Facebook feed is saying it, if the TV is not saying it, a person will think, “Must just be my friend group.”

Even once you are aware of what the corporate media is doing, it is difficult not to follow their narrative because their reach means that their narrative IS the one most shared by everyone. So even when you disagree with it, or think it’s all a bullshit clown show, you still have to work within the frame that it is the default narrative. That is why even the opposition to the corporate media narrative spends most of its time debunking that than setting any kind of narrative themselves.