Republican strategists say their party plans to make the media a focus of its 2018 campaigns, capitalizing on the current anti-media environment.

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“If you pick a fight with them, I think it kind of helps you, and I don’t think many people care,” political consultant David Woodard told McClatchy.

Two weeks ago, Republican Greg Gianforte Gregory Richard GianfortePence seeks to boost Daines in critical Montana Senate race On The Trail: How Nancy Pelosi could improbably become president Supreme Court denies push to add Green Party candidates to Montana ballot MORE was charged with assault after allegedly bodyslamming a reporter for The Guardian at a campaign event after being asked questions about healthcare.

A day later, Gianforte won Montana’s special election for it’s at-large congressional seat.

“Does anyone want to see a reporter badly injured? No. But there are some people who think this is their comeuppance: ‘You’ve been strutting around with no accountability and maybe you should be held accountable,’ ” Tobe Berkovitz, a campaign advertising specialist, told McClatchy.