“McInnis lacks unique academic vision.” That was the headline the News ran on Oct. 4 for a major story on University President Maurie McInnis’ plans for her tenure, based on the paper’s monthly interview with McInnis. 

The headline — which was written by top editors — drew significant consternation, both online and in my inbox, with readers describing it as unfair, slanted and “journalistically dishonest,” according to one reader. The main throughline of the criticism is that the headline expresses an opinion about McInnis’ governance, which is inappropriate for a news article.

When the News does something that prompts vocal criticism, I want to write about it, so I spoke with Tristan Hernandez ’26, the paper’s editor in chief, about the headline and coverage of McInnis more generally. 

Hernandez said he thought the headline was “absolutely correct” and captured the central focus of the article: McInnis’ admission that she does not yet have an academic vision that is “distinct” from her predecessor.

Hernandez explained that this headline was not written by the reporter and that he had selected the headline from several similar options, choosing this one because it was succinct, eye-catching and summarized the interview well. He also shared, perhaps revealingly, that he thinks a majority of readers, possibly upwards of 80 percent, read only an article’s headline, whether that’s scrolling through the newsletter or scanning the pages of the print issue. Which is to say that it’s certainly important to get headlines right.

Personally, I found the headline to be unnecessarily imprecise, detracting from an otherwise strong article. Headlines are absolutely a tricky business, as the writer has to balance concision with capturing the spirit of the article. In my time as both a reporter and an editor, I have spent several hours writing and rewriting them.

But the language here, removed from any modifiers for time — such as, “At start of tenure, McInnis lacks unique academic vision”  — or context — “McInnis lacks unique academic vision, promises continuity with Salovey” — is too totalizing and opinionated for the article that follows it. Even giving the headline a newsier slant — “McInnis says she lacks unique academic vision” — would be more faithful to the piece and likely address reader criticisms. 

To be clear, the News should not hesitate to criticize McInnis when she has earned it and I don’t even believe the headline is particularly critical when paired with the article. But the risk of a headline like this is turning off readers who find the language too opinionated and then don’t read the reporting that follows it.

It’s a shame that there has been so much focus on the headline, because the article that follows it, as Hernandez pointed out in our interview, does provide insight into Yale’s new president’s thinking.

The News doesn’t get to speak to McInnis often, typically once a month, but over three interviews during her tenure, it is notable that she has consistently refused to lay out a specific vision for her presidency that differs from her predecessor — in regards to administrative policy, personnel or academic philosophy.

Granted, the new president should listen to University stakeholders before upending things, but McInnis’ message of total continuity is a curious one, raising the question of what, if not her vision for Yale, the trustees were looking for when they selected her after a yearlong search.

Hernandez emphasized this last point in his interview, saying that identifying McInnis’ priorities, stated or otherwise, is a top focus for the News this year. He likened the reporting to the scrutiny that a new mayor of New Haven or even a new head football coach would, ideally, receive. 

“I think it’s a very valid question to ask someone who’s entering a job, especially someone who’s in charge of something like Yale,” Hernandez said. “What do you want to do academically? What do you want to do for student life? What are you doing this year?” 

In my view, those are the right questions to be asking the administration and I hope the News continues to ask them, albeit with different headlines on top of the strong reporting.

Please continue to send me your questions, complaints, comments, praise and anything else at public@yaledailynews.com.