When magazines or newspapers ask me to write things for them, I tell them I'll only do it if they print what I write verbatim. (They can of course choose not to print it at all, but if they print it they have to print it as written.) Most say no, but some have said yes. Of those who said yes, not all actually did, but no one went so far as to change a title.
I think it's fairly standard in journalism (both newspapers and magazines). A lot of bigger magazines and newspapers have a full-time headline writer who basically does only that, possibly along with some related headline-ish tasks like pulling out those random quotes from the article that get printed in large font in insets.
This person is known as the "subeditor". They also have influence on page layouts in their section, so they have the power to highlight or bury some stories.
Newspapers and magazines also have a stake in their own brand, image, and "feel." They also have a stake in the marketability of their product, or their own idiosyncratic view of such, which in this context would be your essay/article.
