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."
Sweta Chakraborty, U.S. President of We Don't Have Time and climate change expert, joins Cheddar News to discuss how mining the proper resources for the clean energy sector is crucial.
Throughout 2021, several Americans found themselves finding a renewed emphasis on what work-life balance looked like. The labor market experienced several people either quitting their jobs or leaving the workforce altogether. Editor at Labor Notes Alexandra Bradbury, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Whitney Johnson, CEO of human capital consultancy Disruption Advisors and author of 'SMART GROWTH: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company', joins Cheddar News to discuss the rise in entrepreneurship and explores new opportunities to grow personally and professionally.
Two major high profile cases on opposite ends of the country, as they both now lie in the hands of the jury. In New York, jury deliberations continue in the sex trafficking trial of Jeffrey Epstein's longtime partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. Jurors in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial will be back to deliberate just a day after the judge told asked them to stay for an extra hour, as they signaled they're still far from a verdict in that sex trafficking case. The Elizabeth Holmes jury also apparently no closer to a verdict after five days of deliberations as well. Florina Altshiler criminal defense attorney & former prosecutor spoke to Cheddar about the latest on the cases.
2021 proved that crypto currency is here to stay. This year saw more and more adoptions of crypto, from top athletes looking to be paid in bitcoin, to Elon Musk even experimenting with bitcoin and dogecoin payments for a bit over at Tesla. And it wasn't all bitcoin either - other cryptos like Cardano and Solana saw some action in 2021 as well. Patrick McConlogue, CEO of Overline and former Citadel Investment Group Engineer explains why 2021 was such a good year for crypto, and what to expect in 2022.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed an 18.4 percent surge in October as the housing market continues to boom. October's levels are a slight downturn from the roughly 19 percent increase the index saw in September, but come roughly in line with economist expectations. Michael J. Romer, Managing Partner, Romer Debbas joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
U.S. airlines have canceled more than 6,000 flights since Christmas eve, causing headaches for travelers.
Airlines cited staffing shortages amid the omicron outbreak as the primary reason for the interruptions to service. The cancellations come at the busiest time of year for air travel. Steve Shur, President, The Travel Technology Association joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
Adult-use cannabis sales kicked off in Nevada in 2017, but four years later, there isn’t a legal way for the 40 million tourists who visit the state annually to consume. That’s all about to change. Following the passage in June of a bill to legalize consumption lounges, the world’s largest dispensary, Planet 13, is planning a cannabis club as extravagant as Las Vegas. Cheddar’s Chloe Aiello visited the cannabis entertainment complex to find out more.
