Mexico newspaper El Mañana stops covering violence after second grenade attack

GlobalPost

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — A newspaper in northern Mexico announced today it would no longer cover “violent disputes” after a second grenade attack against its office in as many months.

El Mañana is based in the border city of Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas state, which has been the scene of bloody battles between the hyper-violent Zetas drug gang and the Gulf Cartel as they fight for control of drug smuggling routes into the United States.

An editorial published in the newspaper today said no one was injured in Tuesday's attack.

"We ask for the public's comprehension and will refrain, for as long as needed, from publishing any information related to the violent disputes our city and other regions of the country are suffering," the paper said.

"The company's editorial and administrative board has been forced to make this regrettable decision by circumstances we are all familiar with, and by the lack of adequate conditions for freely exercising professional journalism.”

According to the Associated Press, other newspapers in northern Mexico have stopped publishing stories about the drug war to protect their journalists against threats and violent attacks by gangs that don’t want their activities appearing in print or are angry about the coverage of rivals.

Another newspaper in northern Mexico was attacked on Tuesday. Attackers threw grenades at two buildings belonging to El Norte in Nuevo Leon state, the Spanish news agency EFE reported. No one was injured. 

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

According to Reporters Without Borders, 85 journalists have been killed and 15 others have gone missing in the past decade in Mexico.

More from GlobalPost: Journalists missing and killed in Latin America

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