After Slayings, Mexico Paper Appeals to Drug Cartels

In a sad sign of how bad things have gotten in Mexico, the biggest newspaper in Ciudad Juarez is asking the drug cartels to basically dictate what the paper covers. After two of its journalists were murdered in less than two years, El Diario de Juarez ran a front-page editorial yesterday addressed to the “leaders of the different organizations that are fighting for control of Ciudad Juarez,” the AP reports.

“We ask you to explain what you want from us, what we should try to publish or not publish, so we know what to expect,” it reads, going on to accuse the government of doing nothing about attacks on journalists. Murders of Mexican journalists over the past four years have reached at least 22, and more have gone missing or fled. Many media outlets have already ceased coverage of the drug war.