Bozell: Media Obsessed with Supposed Tea Party Incivility Deliberately Ignoring Actual Union Thug Violence in Michigan

The same media that were "obsessive about the need for civility in the American public conservation" is deliberately ignoring the utter lack of civility, and worse, violence, from the left as evidenced by union thug violence this past week in Lansing, Michigan, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell argued on the December 13 Hannity program.

"What is key here is that reporters were there. That scene is crawling with journalists. They're all there. They're seeing it with their own eyes. It's not like they missed the story, it's not like they didn't have the footage, it's not like nobody told them about it," the founder and president of the Media Research Center noted on the weekly "Media Mash" segment. "They were there, they saw it. And still, they withheld it from the public," Bozell noted, going on to call for peaceful Tea Party protests of media censorship outside the headquarters of the major networks: [Watch the full segment below the page break]

It's time for the Tea Party -- I'm serious -- to consider demonstrations in front of NBC, in front of ABC, in front of the New York Times, never mind the [National] Mall. Go to these networks, because it's time for there to be a national outrage against what they are doing.

Here's the full transcript, taken from Nexis:

HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY. Time for "Media Mash," our weekly roundup of all the ways the mainstream media tries to put their liberal spin on your news.

This week, they couldn't help their left-wing bias when it came to covering the passage of the right-to-work legislation in Michigan. Here to explain it, none other than the president of the Media Research Center, Brother Bozell. How are you, sir?

BRENT BOZELL, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: Brother Hannity, how are we doing?

HANNITY: All right, I'm doing good. So we have all of this unfold. Steven Crowder, punched, not provoking anybody. We have all of this violence -- none of the networks covered it.

There is a guy who was there, 16 years, has a hotdog stand in Lansing, who was hired from "Americans for Prosperity." He discusses how he was called the "n" word and all of these horrible names and he also described how they ruined his equipment. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: What happened? Walk us through what happened the other day when they collapsed that tent?

CLINT TARVER, OWNER OF CLINT'S HOT DOG CART (via telephone): Well, I set up around 10:00 a.m. everything was going pretty good. At 10:30, I started to serve hotdogs. And I was probably 11:30, maybe a quarter to 12, two guys came in, one had a -- like a Halloween devil's mask on.

The other one had a ski mask on. But I thought it was a prank, everybody was having fun. But anyway, so I gave them a hotdog. Everybody had to have a ticket. So they had tickets. So I gave them a hotdog.

They got through eating their hotdog, they went to the right and turned over the -- and the protesters were tearing the tent down. So the groundskeeper, he came in and said, Clint, you have to get out of here. They are tearing the tent down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right, I mean, then they called him the "n" word, right to his face. Reaction? Why didn't the media cover that?

BOZELL: Well, I think your viewers need to think about two things. One is, remember the hundreds of stories that we have watched since 2009 about the menacing nature of the Tea Party and all the accusations made about the Tea Party.

Never mind that there was no evidence ever to back up the "n" word with the Tea Party or Gabby Giffords or the Batman shooting in Colorado, all of these things that were attributed to the Tea Party. None of it was true.

This is a media was obsessive about the need for civility in the American public conservation. OK, now the tables are turned and have you outright violence --

HANNITY: And racism.

BOZELL: You know, basically, Sean, what is key here is that reporters were there. That scene is crawling with journalists. They are all there. They are seeing it with their own eyes. It is not like they missed the story and noble -- nobody told them about it. They were there and they saw it. Still, they withheld it from the public.

HANNITY: So there was no reference in the mainstream media to the violence that occurred. You rightly point out that they were there. We decided to go back and we did a search. You have 100 percent peaceful movement, known as the Tea Party. They searched high and low. They couldn't find racism or violence. That's not how they portrayed it. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A year-long debate that has been rancorous and mean from the start, turned even nastier yesterday. Demonstrators, protesting the bill, poured into the halls of congress, shouting kill the bill and made in the USSR.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Opponents of the bill have been out today. Some of them pulled out all the stops, protesters, roaming Washington, yelling slurs and epithets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Hamas or Hezbollah does it, it's called terrorism. Why should Republican lawmakers on behalf of the health care industry be viewed any differently? Especially now that far too many Tea Party protesters are comparing President Obama and health care reform to Hitler and the holocaust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Hitler, holocaust, terrorist, mean, yelling, slurs and epithets, which they could not produce because there was a $100,000 reward if they could find it.

BOZELL: It's time for the Tea Party -- I'm serious -- to consider demonstration in front of NBC and in front of ABC and the "New York Times," never mind the mall. Go to these networks. It is time for there to be a national outrage against what they are doing.

HANNITY: Brent Bozell, thanks for being with us.