"The media do not construct collective identity; they merely reflect" Discuss

I do not agree with this statement as a collective identity is a sense of belonging to a group  as they all have a certain aspect of their life which links them all together. The media is often responsible for the way in which people outside the group portray these people and are often not very accurate to the true life of these collective group. The media also helps to create each group and shape the ways in which they behave.  The media helps create collective identity although it is naturally occurring because of age and gender.