Reporter Calls Candidate's View 'Antiquated' After She Was Denied Access Without Male Colleague
*By Rebecca Heilweil*
Mississippi Today reporter Larrison Campbell had a lot of questions for gubernatorial candidate Robert Foster. So she reached out to his campaign staff requesting a standard ride-along to learn more about the Republican candidate, who currently sits in the state's House of Representatives.
But she didn't get any answers. That's because Foster's staff said she'd need a male colleague to accompany her throughout the day. Campbell rejected the request, as she explained in [Mississippi Today] (https://mississippitoday.org/2019/07/09/robert-foster-gop-governor-candidate-denies-woman-reporter-access-because-of-her-gender/).
"As a woman who reports on politics, sure, I get treated differently from my male colleagues. But nothing this blatant," Campbell told Cheddar Friday. "I really didn't think they were going to draw this line."
The campaign maintains that Foster didn't want to provide any perception that he was cheating, and has since said he had agreed to the "Billy Graham" rule with his wife, promising that he would not spend time alone with another woman.
The "rule" is generally associated with the late evangelical Christian leader Billy Graham.
But denying Campbell the chance to do the ride-along — a decision Foster has continued to defend — has been widely condemned as sexist.
Now the journalist says there's even more to ask about: couldn't being alone with a male reporter also be construed as cheating? Why was it her responsibility, not the campaign's, to find a third person to sit in the ride-along? What if a female candidate had instituted the same rule?
Campbell also says that the Foster campaign has changed its story.
"The first thing that I heard from his campaign director was that they were concerned about opposition research from other campaigns, you know, one of his opponents having someone take a photo that could paint him in a compromising position by being on the campaign trail with a woman. It was about, sort of, this idea of perception," Campbell told Cheddar. "Since the story fell apart, they've sort of been selling it as this thing he calls the 'Billy Graham' rule."
Cheddar had not heard back from the Foster campaign by the time of publication.
"You cannot govern a state if you cannot be alone in a room with half of your constituents," said Campbell. "It's about men who have that point of view, who see women this way, not wanting to do the work that they need to do to change their antiquated point of view of what a woman in the work setting is."
But Campbell said that Foster has gained support from the outrage.
"There are a ton of people who are thrilled that he's taken this position," she said. "I think there's this perception among a certain sect of the population that men are under attack right now, and they have to protect themselves from women and all these false accusations. And the Billy Graham rule is just something he's doing to honor his wife and to keep himself safe."
In a fundraising email sent to supporters earlier this week, [as reported by Time] (https://time.com/5624143/mississippi-governor-candidate-woman-reporter-chaperone/), Foster wrote, "I am sorry the liberal media doesn't share our views, but their attack on us is all the more reason we need a conservative that will protect these values we share."
Catching you up on the entertainment headlines of the day with Justin Timberlake selling his entire musical catalog to IP management firm Hipgnosis, Ellen DeGeneres airing the final episode of her show, Alanis Morissette making a guest appearance on Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour’ tour, and more.
Cheddar recently teamed up with Amazon Bestseller Jamie Hopkins to explore the term 'Rewirement' while highlighting those who didn't let retirement be the end of their journey... Instead, they used it as a new beginning.
Today, Jamie is speaking with Linda Lombri, a former home economist and marketing executive, and Virginia Cornue, a former cultural anthropologist. For them, retirement didn't mean stopping work--it meant re-inventing themselves and living out their dreams of becoming mystery authors, even though neither had written fiction before. Together, Linda and Virginia began an e-book series, the Sandra Troux Mysteries.
Brightseed Co-Founder Sofia Elizondo breaks down what plant bioactives are, and how they're using the latest technology to study human's biological connections with plants.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Brightseed Co-Founder breaks down what plant bioactives are, and how they're using the latest technology to study human's biological connections with plants; Esper Bionics CEO breaks down how they re creating a mind-controlled bionic hand that guest smarter the more you use it; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Capturing A Black Hole In Our Milky Way.'
The number of births in the U.S. increased last year for the first time in seven years. According to a new federal report, about 3.6 million babies were born in 2021, only about a 1% increase from 2020. Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst for creditcards.com, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss why the pandemic baby boom was more like a baby bust, and how to raise kids while on a tight budget.
Following the mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead, the debate over gun control has been reignited. While studies have shows most Americans agree on some additional regulations, there hasn't been much legislative traction even as gun violence worsens in the country. Brian Lemek, the executive director of Defend The Vote and the former executive director at Brady PAC for gun control, joined Cheddar to discuss reform efforts. "The lawmakers that we have aren't passing these at the federal level," he said. "That's the problem. We have the wrong people in charge."
The crypto industry is still reeling from Terra's recent crash. The company's blockchain was temporarily halted earlier this month after the collapse of its cryptocurrency Luna (LUNA) and its stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which led to almost $45 billion being wiped from the tokens' market caps within a week. Now, many are left wondering what Terra's struggles mean for the broader crypto market. Reeve Collins, CEO of the NFT platform BLOCKv, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell from Davos 2022 to discuss.
