MSNBC.com's First Read, MSNBC's Morning Joe uncritically reported Palin's misquote of Albright, ignored Albright's explanation of her remarks

Summary: MSNBC.com's First Read and MSNBC's Morning Joe uncritically reported Gov. Sarah Palin's misquote of remarks by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, while ignoring Albright's actual quote and her reported elaboration on her remarks.

An October 5 post on MSNBC.com's First Read and the October 6 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe uncritically reported remarks Gov. Sarah Palin made during an October 4 rally in which she misquoted a statement by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Palin claimed: "You'll never believe what the quote was. It was Madeleine Albright. ... She said: 'There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't support other women.' " However, as CBS News' Scott Conroy and the Huffington Post's Nico Pitney reported prior to the First Read post, Albright actually said: "There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't help other women" [emphasis added]. Neither First Read nor Morning Joe made any apparent attempt to contact Albright to confirm the veracity and context of the quote. However, in a statement sent to The Huffington Post, which Pitney included in his article, Albright said her remarks "had nothing to do with politics." Pitney's article appeared on the Huffington Post at 1:16 a.m. October 5, hours before First Read's post, and more than a day before Morning Joe aired Palin's remarks.

During the October 4 McCain campaign rally in California, Palin purported to quote Albright's statement, which originally appeared on a Starbucks Coffee cup as part of a series of notable quotes from famous figures:

PALIN: I've gotta share with you -- it's like kind of providential -- yesterday, what happened to me. I can use this today after that introduction from [president of the National Organization for Women's Los Angeles chapter] Shelly [Mandell]. I'm reading on my Starbucks mocha cup, OK, the quote of the day. You'll never believe what the quote was. It was Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state and U.N. ambassador, and Madeleine has as her quote of the day for Starbucks -- now she said it, I didn't. She said: "There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't support other women."

However, Palin misquoted Albright's remarks, as CBS News' Conroy reported at 7:38 p.m. on October 4:

"Now she said it, I didn't," Palin said of Albright. "She said, 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women.' "

The crowd roared its approval, but according to several sources, Albright actually said, "there's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

In an October 5 article, The Huffington Post's Pitney also noted that Palin misquoted Albright, and quoted Albright's statement responding to Palin's remarks:

Actually, Albright didn't say that. The accurate quote is, "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

[...]

Albright responded to Palin's remarks in a statement to the Huffington Post on Sunday. "Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden."

Pitney also posted an image of the Starbucks cup that Palin referenced:

From the October 6 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

PALIN [video clip]: I'm reading on my Starbucks mocha cup, OK, the quote of the day. You'll never believe what the quote was. It was Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state and U.N. ambassador. And Madeleine has as her quote of the day for Starbucks -- now she said it, I didn't. She said: "There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't support other women."

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, with us now NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell. Let's just talk about style for a second. 'Cause, I know, everybody was saying, "How is she going to do in the debate?" I noticed when she walked in, she said, "Do you mind if I call you Joe?" I thought, this woman --

MITCHELL: Who do you think you are, Tina Fey?

SCARBOROUGH: This woman loves it. She soaks up the attention. She is a born performer, isn't she?

MITCHELL: She is, and she seemed a little bit off her game after those, you know, TV interviews -- the Katie Couric interview, in particular. But boy, she was ready for the debate, as we've discussed.

—E.H.H.