NY Times Changes ‘Tougher Than She Looks’ Headline on Katy Tur Profile Following Criticism

The 2016 election raised the profile of a lot of reporters, among them NBC correspondent Katy Tur. She was called out by then-candidate Donald Trump by name on more than one occasion, she has a book coming out later this year, and she was the subject of a New York Times profile out yesterday.

However, there was one little problem people had with the profile. The headline.

It initially said “Katy Tur Is Tougher Than She Looks,” and some people weighed in with some critical thoughts:

Dear @KatyTurNBC, enjoyed the profile. Headline made me realize why we need more women in the room. You look plenty damn tough to me.

— Shawna Thomas (@Shawna) June 10, 2017

faaaaaaairly sure they wouldn't write this headline about a man https://t.co/BAmFPblIGL

— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 10, 2017

Are similar headlines written about men?

— Rex Miller (@JahNestaWailer) June 10, 2017

What would this headline be like for a man? https://t.co/S8NEIo6Qvo

— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) June 10, 2017

@KatyTurNBC cleared out a biker bar in Iowa with just a cold stare. I was there.
(This headline is sexist and stupid.) https://t.co/FjNpSrDIPo

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 10, 2017

Runner up: Katy Tur is Less Girly Than She Looks

— Nell Scovell (@NellSco) June 10, 2017

The Times ended up responding to the criticism and updating the headline:

Katy Tur’s swift and surprising rise https://t.co/mEEVxYA97r pic.twitter.com/ADu107mfhm

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) June 11, 2017

After reader feedback, we changed the headline on this article and deleted an earlier tweet that used that headline. https://t.co/r5bwu42CCx

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) June 11, 2017

Though as Poynter flagged earlier, they changed it again since then.

You can read the full profile here.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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