Seoul – Unionized workers with the country’s newspapers and television networks launched a 100-hour strike to protest government-proposed media reforms they fear will put the industry in the hands of a select few. Members of the National Union of Media Workers (NUMW), including local broadcasters MBC, SBS, YTN, EBS and CBS, started a general strike joined by regional newspapers, the union said. NUMW said that the current strike is only meant for blocking a vote on the media bill, not for hampering daily operations at the media companies. The union’s current move marks the third media strike against the proposed media bill after the previous two ones in late December and February. South Korea’s Lee Myung-bak regime, since his inauguration, has been pushing for media reforms, which aim at lifting a ban on local newspaper companies from owning television channels. While the regime has called it as a move to promote competition in the industry, the broadcasters and progressive civic groups strongly opposed the move, saying it would lead to monopolies in the media industry.