Like all other media, it attempts to steers public opinion in the desired direction.

That was the assumption beneath my question, along with the question "Whose desires?" After all I am immersed in US print and broadcast media where I have found few glimpses of sanity on this issue but where the polling shows little support for US intervention. MfM made an excellent point about the opportunity the fossil fuel sector sees to dramatically increase the profits from their shale gas, but that doesn't really account for the immediate reaction of almost all US print and broadcast media, which I attribute to an instinctive reaction to wounded pride due to the inherent insult Putin's move gave to the attitude of US triumphalism and exceptionalism.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."