Female reporter told she could only shadow GOP candidate if a male colleague joined her

Robert Foster.
(Image credit: Facebook/foster4ms)

Mississippi Today reporter Larrison Campbell was told she could follow Mississippi Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Foster on the campaign trail, under one condition: a male colleague joined her.

Campbell said Foster's campaign manager, Colton Robison, told her about the requirement this week, with Robison saying he was afraid that people hired by other primary candidates to follow Foster around would see Campbell with the conservative state lawmaker, and start a smear campaign that they were having an affair. "Perception is everything," Robison said, per Campbell. "We are so close to the primary. If [trackers] were to get a picture and they put a mailer out, we wouldn't have time to dispute it. And that's why we have to be careful."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.