From the excellent blog Ask a Korean!, a very familiar account of how readers adjust to propaganda in order to eke out the truth:
Take, for example, the war in Iraq. When the war broke out, North Korean newspapers would report: “Iraqi army is bravely battling against America’s imperial army, downing two fighter jets and five missiles.” With this report, North Korean people would think: “Ah, there is a war in Iraq. There would have been a lot of fighter jets, and they only got two. They have no chance — America would win pretty soon.” And in fact, the reports on the exploits of the Iraqi military would decrease over time, and then completely disappear from Rodong Shinmun. Then the people would think: “Iraq is losing the war.” Some time later, upon seeing the reports that say “Iraqi patriots are bombing the American military base in Baghdad,” North Korean people would think: “So Iraq is now under American rule.”
previously: why are there newspapers in north korea?