The Zócalo newspaper is the latest victim in a recent upswing of violence against Mexican journalists.
Zócalo, a publication out of the Coahuila capitol, Saltillo, wrote a front-page editorial on its website Monday explaining it would no longer publish news concerning drug cartels.
In a statement by the editorial council of the paper, it said the decision aimed to protect its employees and their families.
But the four-paragraph editorial hints at a greater dissatisfaction with the government.
In the opening paragraph they state the decision was made because “there are no guarantees or security for the full exercise of Journalism.”
Zócalo is not the first to self-censor. Many Mexican newspapers have policies against in-depth coverage of organized crime in order to protect their reporters.
Researchers from Fundación MEPI, an investigative journalism center based in Mexico City, released a study in November.
They found that although newspapers increased their coverage of organized crime by more than 100 percent in 2011 over the previous year, the coverage was superficial.
Only two newspapers studied put the crimes into context, identified victims and followed up on the initial story.
