It's a clever game, but the implication that the cycle begins with the popular opinion and not the media itself isn't accurate IMO. The cycle always starts with those with the power.
It's clever, but the way it was going it seemed like a metaphor for coming out of a coma, and maybe it would've been even better if that had been made explicit at the end. Even so, good job.
So I updated my revenue streams... and my revenue didn't go up yet my costs did. Something doesn't seem right here. Also, as said before, the constant loss of important cities makes it way too hard. But the concept is good.
It requires the artifact buff to work.