What are the facts that reach the status of 'shared facts"? Through which mechanisms do they become recognized, accepted as facts? "Reality", writes Lyotard, "is a status of the referent that results from the effectuation of procedures of fact-establishment" (Lyotard 1988: 32). Such procedures are defined by agreed protocols and their effectuation is entrusted to specific institutions. I would call such institutions the "reality-pronouncing institutions".