Boston Globe Revises Story with Softer Headline for Warren

By Liz Boselli September 6, 2018 at 2:39pm

The Boston Globe appeared to change its tune Monday after publishing their findings from “the most exhaustive review” ever surrounding claims Elizabeth Warren said she was Native American to advance her academic career.

The Globe published its article under the original headline “Did claiming Native American heritage actually help Elizabeth Warren get ahead? No, but it’s complicated.”

However, the notion things are “complicated” was soon replaced by a definitive claim that her ethnicity did not advance her law career after all.

The updated headline now reads “Ethnicity not a factor in Elizabeth Warren’s rise in law.”

Not all ties to the original headline were completely erased, however. For one, the article URL still contains pieces of the original:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/09/01/did-claiming-native-american-heritage-actually-help-elizabeth-warren-get-ahead-but-complicated/wUZZcrKKEOUv5Spnb7IO0K/story.html

The Globe also sent out a tweet referencing the original headline, which still remains on their account.

Did claiming Native American heritage actually help Elizabeth Warren get ahead? No, but it’s complicated. https://t.co/jhW9yIX5dF pic.twitter.com/PBMuiTUpYU

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) September 1, 2018

Some theorize The Globe rethought the way they originally framed the story, while others believe they were explicitly told to change it.

“They got a call,” tweeted law professor Glenn Reynolds, who also runs the Instapundit blog.

https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/1036730407407046656

The report revealed Warren was thought of as a white woman by faculty members during hiring at Harvard and other institutions.

“The Globe closely reviewed the records, verified them where possible, and conducted more than 100 interviews with her colleagues and every person who had a role in hiring decisions about Warren who could be reached. In sum, it is clear that Warren was viewed as a white woman by the hiring committees at every institution that employed her,” the article says.

Do you think The Globe should have changed their headline?

The Globe found Warren began claiming Native American heritage two years into teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, but did not claim it at her next position at Harvard until two-and-a-half years after being offered her job.

The article also explained that pressure to hire a more diverse staff could have also been a factor at the time.

“In its report, The Boston Globe reveals that faculty members were being pressured by activists to make hiring decisions in part based on identity politics. Warren was already calling herself a Native American when she was at Penn before applying to Harvard,” The Daily Wire reported.

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