Well, watch for yourself, here's the german 'Wochenschau', the weekly newsreel, for the week 25. November - 1. December 1942:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj31Q7D2vDg (After about the half the video repeats itself)

At the beginning there's an informational sketch on how to use the army postal system correctly.

The newsreel itself starts at about 5:00 with uplifting informations about the 'Heimatflak', workers ready to man anti air guns when needed, something that might remind germans of the good old institution of the volunteer fire brigade, also the 'Heimatflak' includes real heroes with Iron Crosses and other real competent people.

Next we see reinforcements for the troops in northern Africa by air and sea. A navy convoy gets attacked by british air force. It's not completely clear if the british torpedoes hit a ship (I guess they do), but we get the information, that 5 british planes are shot down. The reinforcements reach Africa, and that's it. Nothing about any fights in Lybia, let alone Egypt.

Note, that this is 4 weeks after the german defeat in El Alamein and Operation Torch.

Then there's the battle of Stalingrad. The german 6. Army is encircled since 22. November, so they will talk about that, right? Um, no, they don't. They show us, how german Stuka and artillery annihilate soviet strongholds in the city and how soviet soldiers surrender. The end.

Now to some heroic action of german Gebirgsjäger in the Caucasus Mountains.

And let's end with 4 minutes of german forces annexing southern France and meeting up with spanish soldiers at the former Franco-Spanish borders.

So while Germany lost quite some territory during the week all we see is, how Germany garners new territory.

Also we are told, that the french soldiers keep on doing their work as before the annexation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_French_fleet_in_Toulon

Now the Wochenschau 27. January - 2. February 1943:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCKlcmbch8w

It starts with 'Greetings from Eisenach'. What's so noteworthy about Eisenach, you ask? Well, it's were Luther translated the bible into german and some other culturally and historically relevant stuff happened. Does it have anything to do with the present time? If so they don't tell us.

Next: 10 Year Anniversary of the 3rd Reich on 30. January and what great a job the Nazis did in building up The New Germany. A pity, they mention, Hitler actually had rather further build up Germany than fight a war, but somehow the war was forced on him, they don't tell us how.

Then, after about 6:30 min they introduce us to the marvels of german air defence, for about 4 minutes we follow every step from the detection of enemy planes crossing the channel to a night fighter shooting down a plane. Hey, they also tell us, that the Germans already destroyed 1.000 enemy bombers. Those bloody air raids will be over soon, right?

Then again reinforcement for northern Africa, a navy convoy shoots down a british plane. Then we reach Africa, and this time there's even some fighting - in Tunesia. The Germans beat the crap out of some french units, we even see some corpses - of Frenchmen only, of course.

Now to the Eastern Front. German soldiers recapture some positions at Leningrad. Did they lose them? Don't ask stupid questions, they recaptured them, and then they destroy lots of bolshewik tanks and repulse some infantery attacks. Not only around Leningrad but at many other places in the East. Note, that the Germans eat all the time and that everyone looks healthy and confident. Also the Germans have lots of ammunition, no lack of that on this front.

Well, OK, some look a bit scruffy and unshaved, but those are heroes, who... Well, I almost said 'escaped the encirclement of Welikiye Luky', but that's not true. They held the citadel of Welikiye Luky until the last and then battled their way to the german lines.

And look at the maps and see, if you can find a place called 'Staginlard' or 'Stagrinlad' or something. I heard, something happened there on 2. February 1943. Look also if you can find a line, indicating the front lines. It still did exist in the 1942 Wochenschau. Can you find it in this one too?

The last example, 24. February - 2. March 1943:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pqBeVmrZM

5:45 mins of Goebbel's 'Sportpalast Speech', then almost 2 mins of women entering the work forces of the arms industry, doing their part in the newly proclaimed total war.

Then 4 1/2 mins of, you guessed it, reinforcements for northern Africa, this time only by plane. And Germans sightseeing in the beautiful city of Gades, then taking (defensive) positions. We are told, that the 'Northern Americans' have lost a battle.

At last the Eastern Front: The Germans would never retreat, so they're performing breakaway movements, and everything goes according to plan.

You see, that, if you followed the Wochenschau alone attentively enough and knew at least a bit about geography, you were able to realise, that the whole war actually didn't go that well, and more and more people actually did realise. About that time the BBC became relatively popular in Germany.

Newspapers were better, they announced e.g. after the defeat in Stalingrad that enemy forces after heavy artillery preparation entered the last german postions, where the heroic soldiers had exhausted their last ammunition, while all along the Eastern Front heavy 'repelling battles' were fought against the soviets, who were relentlessly throwing division after division into the battle, but thanks to the use of pictures the Wochenschau had a wider and deeper reach.

Parents or wives btw were informed by mail, if their son or husband had died, and announced this in newspaper obituaries to the rest of the world.