The CIA doesn't have to, but they certainly can, and likely do. This isn't the 1990s, or even the 2000s. We are at a point where they can't just get 6-7 newspaper editors, a top blogger or radio host, and 2-3 TV producers to form mass public opinions anymore. Since the rise of alt-tech, and after Trump's first term and particularly covid, trust in the media is so low it's almost non-existent.

I find the Russia/Ukraine agitprop easier to ignore than the pro/anti-Trump agitprop. That's just me maybe.