Gunmen Attack TV Station in Mexico
By VOA News
07 January 2009
Gunmen in Mexico have attacked a prominent television station, leaving behind a stark warning about the station's coverage of drug gangs.
Mexico
The attackers opened fire and threw a grenade at the Televisa network's studio in Monterrey during the station's evening newscast Tuesday.
No injuries were reported.
The attackers left behind a note that read, "stop reporting only about us." The note added that the station should report on the "narco-officials," in what may be a reference to the Mexican government.
Spiraling drug-related violence in Mexico claimed more than 5,000 lives last year.
The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls Mexico one of the world's deadliest nations for journalists, with 21 killed in the country since 2000. It says drug traffickers are thought to be behind most of the slayings.
But in a report last year, the CPJ said there is mounting speculation that local officials have punished journalists who report on the alleged links between government officials and drug gangs.
The report said seven journalists have disappeared in Mexico since 2005, and many of them were in the process of investigating relationships between the government and organized crime. It said relatives and colleagues of several missing journalists said they believed local public officials played a role in the disappearances.
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