EVEN in strike-happy South Korea, walkouts by television journalists are notable. Now, for the first time since the arrival of democracy in 1987, reporters at both main broadcasters are laying down their microphones. At Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), journalists have been on strike for a month. Colleagues at the state-owned rival, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), will walk out on March 6th.

The complaint is an increasingly familiar one of government interference. Last year Freedom House in America downgraded South Korea's media from “free” to “partly free”. The monitoring group blamed increased censorship and the practice of parachuting in presidential cronies to run the country's most prominent media outlets. The phenomenon has increased markedly under Lee Myung-bak, president since 2008.

Nine-tenths of MBC's reporters have walked out, and three of its six news shows have been suspended. The strikers are calling for the departure of the chief executive, Kim Jae-cheul, who is close to the government. They accuse him of bias in favour of the Lee administration. They claim that MBC has reduced coverage that might reflect poorly on the government, from protests against free trade to a controversy surrounding the purchase of land for the president's retirement home.

In late February two newsroom deputy heads at MBC announced that they would quit, in support of the strikers. Mr Kim remains defiant, threatening legal action. KBS also mutters about civil or even criminal punishment. That is unlikely to turn the tide. Already reporters at a third news station, YTN, have chosen to strike as well. At Yonhap, the state's flagship newswire service, similar plans are under way.

The dispute may disrupt coverage of parliamentary elections on April 11th. Reporters at both MBC and KBS vow to stay out at least until then. Ardent strikers at the two stations plan to produce their own election coverage and post it online.

Such coverage might prove no less free of bias. But that is the problem for the government: whenever criticism of it is muzzled in the mainstream media, it reappears online, often in more rabid form. One of the most popular sources of views about current affairs in South Korea is “Naneun Ggomsuda”, a provocatively anti-government podcast. Its founders launched it after forming the opinion that the mainstream media were pulling their punches over the president.

Officials often complain about the vitriolic attacks they face from bloggers and websites retailing independent news and gossip. Since four-fifths of adult South Koreans get at least some of their news online, the complaint is understandable. It would be more defensible if officials allowed mainstream journalists to report more of what they want.