Change has come to the national media. They jumped into the tank with Barack Obama during the presidential campaign and are now taking their news cues from the White House. Conservatives must accept that reality and adapt.

To that end Ed Gillespie offered some tips in National Review Online based on his 25 years of experience with reporters and his observations about the media’s shift away from “seriousness and objectivity”:

1. Be prepared to respond to reporters who are “following their marching orders” from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and others in the Obama administration
2. Don’t expect reporters to go on the attack for Republicans; they only do that for Democrats. Republican “attacks” are framed as exactly that.
3. Expose “blatant bias,” especially when the offending journalists repeatedly ignore “discreet objections.”
4. Address Americans directly via blogs, online social networks, telephone town-hall meetings and more.
5. Accept that the changes in American journalism are here to stay.

I see only one problem with Gillespie’s list: No. 4 should be No. 1.

The Internet is the most powerful, least expensive and simplest medium in history. Given a relatively modest investment of time and money, it’s a communications tool that anyone can master. And the “professional” press can’t filter it.

Every conservative should adopt this motto for the media future: “If you can’t beat ‘em, bypass ‘em. Be the media.”

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