New York Times Keeps Running Truncated Version Of Hillary's Quote About Martin Luther King
January 11, 2008 -- 9:31 AM EST // //

Let's say you were putting together a story about a very, very controversial thing that a politician said. Would you...(a) Run an edited version of the quote that has sparked some argument about whether it's a distortion of the original; or...(b) Run the full quote, so readers can know exactly what was said and make up their own minds as to the meaning?

The latter, right? Not if you work at The New York Times. For the second time, the paper has run a truncated version of something Hillary said about Martin Luther King that has become a major campaign issue -- even though the full transcript has been available for days.

Today's Times has an article reporting that South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn might support Barack Obama out of disappointment with the Clintons, largely over the remark in question. The paper says:

In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Mrs. Clinton, who was locked in a running exchange with Senator Barack Obama, a rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, over the meaning of the legacies of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., tried to make a point about presidential leadership.

“Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Mrs. Clinton said in trying to make the case that her experience should mean more to voters than the uplifting words of Mr. Obama. “It took a president to get it done.”

This version of her quote started circulating on the Internets just after she gave the interview, and it found its way into the newspapers in this form. The Times also characterized the quote this way in an editorial the other day.

But as Josh pointed out on TPM the other day, here's Hillary's actual quote from the interview:

"I would point to the fact that that Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the President before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done. That dream became a reality, the power of that dream became a real in people's lives because we had a president who said we are going to do it, and actually got it accomplished."

Now, fair minded people can disagree as to whether the truncated version constitutes a distortion, as Josh argues. It's a very close call. But it seems clear that the truncated version changed the tone, if not the substance, in a key way that made it more attention grabbing.

Let me be clear. I'm not at all defending Hillary's actual comments. They were clumsy and inartful, and Hillary backtracked later.

Nonetheless, the shortened version changes the complexion of the remarks. It more sharply juxtaposes King with Johnson than the original did. And it leaves off her praise of the "power" of King's dream. The result of that is two-fold. First, it makes the quote sound more condescending in tone towards King than it actually was. And second, it more strongly implies a meaning that I don't think was intended: That she was saying Obama is King to her LBJ. If the quote had started circulating in its full form, it's unclear whether it would have been as controversial.

Again -- this is a very close call that can be disagreed upon. But here's the thing. Even if you're 1000 percent convinced that the truncated version means precisely the same thing as the longer one, there's no earthly reason whatsoever for the paper not to run the full quote, particularly since there's argument over it. I understand that journalists edit quotes all the time and so forth, but this is hugely controversial and could even have real repercussions in the presidential race.

Guys: Run the full quote. Tell your readers what the woman actually said, and let them decide for themselves what she meant. You have nothing to lose but a couple lines of space.

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