“One bad moment can derail an entire campaign,” said Mark Macias, a former producer for New York, Miami and Phoenix stations and the author of “Beat the Press,” who pointed to the bad press accumulated by Sarah Palin when she was interviewed in the 2008 presidential campaign. Now out of office, Ms. Palin may be a role model of sorts for subverting the news media; she now rarely gives interviews, except to Fox News, which pays her to be a contributor.

Image The tradition of political candidates pursuing news coverage has not caught on with Sharron Angle, a Republican hoping to unseat Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, in Nevada. Credit... Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Ms. Angle, a local Republican legislator, was friendlier to the press back when she was deemed a long shot in the Senate race, according to reporters who have known her for years. But that changed after she was enthroned as the Tea Party’s choice to challenge Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, this fall. A week before the June 8 primary, her spokesman, Jerry Stacy, was quoted as saying, “She’s not interested in meeting up with any media or anything.”

Ms. Angle’s campaign strategy — if it is indeed a strategy; a spokesman did not respond to a request for comment — is representative of a pick-and-choose media landscape. Since the primary victory, she has showed up on Fox News and sat down with several conservative radio hosts, including Bill Manders of KOH, the dominant talk station in Reno. “She answers every question I ask her,” Mr. Manders said, although he said he had advised her to give more interviews.

At the moment, said Anjeanette Damon, a longtime political reporter for The Reno Gazette-Journal who recently moved to The Las Vegas Sun, “she is just talking to the base, people who are going to start sending her money.” Jason Pasco, the news director at KTVN, the CBS affiliate in Reno, called that tactic a “disservice to our viewers,” some of whom have been calling local stations and asking questions about Ms. Angle’s views. He speculated that Internet outlets like YouTube and Twitter, which allow for unfettered connections between candidates and voters, had emboldened her campaign.

“Maybe they think they can hit the people they want to hit directly,” he said. “I don’t think that hits the undecided voters though.”

Republican officials have said that reporters will hear from Ms. Angle in due time, once she builds up her campaign staff. Mr. Macias said, “If she’s not answering all the questions, it’s probably because she doesn’t have the answers yet.”

In the meantime, Mr. Reid’s campaign has made Ms. Angle’s silence a campaign issue, and the state Democratic committee has designed a Web site showing her in an underground bunker, hiding from a camera crew.