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New York Magazine softens Hillary Clinton news conference item

A New York Magazine blog post with the headline "Stop bugging Hillary Clinton about giving a press conference" was heavily edited and softened because the "headline and force of the opinion overstepped the mark," according to a spokesperson for the magazine.

The original version of the piece, by night editor Claire Landsbaum, suggested that by not having a news conference in months, Clinton has been simply working within her strengths the same way Donald Trump does. The new headline is "Why Hillary Clinton is avoiding press conferences."

Clinton "should be recognized for her pragmatism rather than being pressured to perform based on standards that don't necessarily apply across the board," Landsbaum wrote in a now-deleted phrase.

"Does she owe it to voters to be interrogated by the press? Sure. But it makes sense for Clinton to wait until after she's officially clinched the Democratic nomination (a task Bernie Sanders has made surprisingly difficult) to open herself up to further ridicule," the original piece says as it goes on to note the hundreds of interviews Clinton has done (and the fact that she has started to call in to cable news shows).

Another paragraph, since deleted, quotes a New York Magazine profile of Clinton by Rebecca Traister:

"The same is true of her presidential run. As Traister herself points out, Clinton shines in one-on-one interactions. She files away every face and proves her devotion to supporters by promising them — individually — that she'll work as hard as she can to make their lives better. Her charisma doesn't come through in press conferences, and as Trump's own rise demonstrates, it's charisma that sways voters."

The headline and about three paragraphs were significantly changed or deleted from the original (which can be viewed here) and the current version, which bears the editor's note: "This item has been substantially edited since its original publication."

In an email, New York Magazine spokeswoman Lauren Starke said that the "headline and force of the opinion overstepped the mark, so we edited the post and noted that it was edited."