And yes, that is definitely what they'll do - every time something major happens in our society I've observed the mass media following the playbook from Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" almost exactly.

That being said, every "big event" is an opportunity for mass radicalization of the working class and these "big events" are happening more and more often. It's like the quote from the IRA: "We only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always".