Sad that I have to spell it out for y'all, but the media manipulates public perception and opinion in 2 primary ways:
1. By deciding which of the 10,000+ things that happen each day are "news worthy"
2. The POV, content or slant of their reporting.
Obviously the ratings factor heavily in number 1.

The NYT has been traditionally one of the most respected news souces in the world. It is also a big critic of Trump. So one would objectively think an internal staff revolt at one of the oldest and most respected newspapers in the world would be more important than Trump trading cheap shots with a couple of minor MSNBC hosts.