Can you make a whole group change behavior without using any sort of force ? Easy, enter: Empathy.
People have a deep need to belong to their group. Is it because they are stupid ? Well, if they didn't belong, they could be left alone in the dark and be pray to the dangerous tiger. To prevent that, we monitor what the majority*'s beliefs are. This puts us in a rather weak position where the majority dictates the beliefs. It begs the question: could you make a whole group change their opinion to your will ?
Yes, enter: Media.
Initially, media is used to inject the false belief in people's minds, that the majority has already followed a certain path (the "new norm", aka the path, you, the manipulator, want the group to follow. A path against their current beliefs and will). This induction of a false "new normal", creates a discomfort in the individuals for suddenlty not conforming to this new norm. Follows a deep necessity to comply.
Once the majority has followed the desired path, the media's resources can be released (and possibly reoriented to funnel the cattle to the next path - you don't want to be financing a whole media corporation full of idle journalist whores (especially male)).
*majority is a contextual expression, in the sense that democracy makes the majority's opinions be the safe set of beliefs. But in reality our survival instincs would make us want to adopt the opinions of those who we deem being most capable of protecting us. The assumption is that empathy is just a byproduct of survival instincts. And that's why it disappears in an instant when the survival instincts redirect our attention elsewhere.