Yes, on reflection, I could have phrased it better. The government is for sure a powerful entity though and although the media can push misinformation, there's multiple outlets (that aren't all working together to push the same message) and only a single government per country. Anything the government says or does immediately becomes news and gets reported everywhere too, and few have a megaphone like that. Just having a lie with no evidence being discussed is enough to give it some legitimacy.