Mexico's powerful cartels have thwarted military and government crackdowns on drug-related violence and have now become so threatening, one of the country's biggest newspapers has said it will cut drug war coverage in an effort to keep journalists alive.

El Diario, the largest newspaper in violence-riddled Ciudad Juarez, published a front-page editorial Sunday asking the cartels what it can and can't publish after a journalist for the publication was brutally murdered - the second slain in less than two years.

"Leaders of the different organizations that are fighting for control of Ciudad Juarez: The loss of two reporters from this publishing house in less than two years represents an irreparable sorrow for all of us who work here, and, in particular, for their families," the editorial said. "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."

El Diario directed the editorial to the country's cartels, calling them the nation's de facto leadership in the absence of an effective government strategy to curb their killing sprees.

The move comes as an international media watchdog group planned to push Mexican government officials to make journalist safety a priority, The Associated Press reported. El Diario's editorial appeared after gunmen attacked two El Diario photographers, killing one and critically wounding the second.

Luis Carolos Santiago, 21, died after being shot several times at close range. Another reporter for the paper was killed in 2008 as he was taking his daughters to school. "We don't want to continue to be used as cannon fodder in this war because we're tired," El Diario editor Pedro Torres, told The Associated Press.

The paper has aggressively covered the country's chilling drug violence, even as many other media outlets limited reporting out of fear for the safety of their employees.

At least 22 Mexican journalists have been killed in the past four years; at least eight of those were targeted in response to their reports on corruption and drug trafficking, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit group founded to protect press freedom around the world.

The group plans to present a report Wednesday to Mexican President Felipe Calderon to push for tougher protection laws for Mexican crime reporters with targets on their backs.

"Even in one of the places where violence is worst... El Diario was still doing a lot of good reporting on crime. The fact that they're giving up is really bad. It's an indication that the situation is out of control," CPJ staffer Carlos Lauria told The Associated Press.

CPJ's report charges the Mexican government has "failed to take responsibility for widespread attacks on free expression." Cartel-related violence has claimed the lives of about 5,000 people in Ciudad Juarez this year.

Source: NYdailynews.com