Chihuahua daily El Monitor de Parral suspends print edition after firebombing

[Judi Lynn]

August 1, 2019 6:07 PM ET

Mexico City, August 1, 2019 -- Mexican authorities must immediately investigate an attack on the newspaper El Monitor de Parral in the northern state of Chihuahua and provide its employees with adequate protection, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On July 30, unidentified individuals threw Molotov cocktails at the paper's offices in Parral, according to its news director and local news reports. None of El Monitor's employees were injured in the attack but it caused substantial damage, Esteban Villalobos, the news director, told CPJ. In a statement published yesterday, the newspaper announced that it has temporarily halted the publication of its print edition until safer working conditions are met, without specifying what those conditions were. The statement added that its website will continue, but it will cease to report on crime or publish stories that could "represent political bias."


Several news outlets in Mexico have ceased publication in recent years because of violence, including the Chihuahua-based newspaper Norte. Shortly after the murder of its reporter Miroslava Breach in March 2017, the paper announced that it was closing.

"Mexican authorities must take all appropriate steps to protect the staff of El Monitor de Parral from further harm and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice as soon as possible," said CPJ Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen. "No news outlet should have to choose between publishing or safety. The inaction of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government in addressing acts of violence against the press only exacerbates the problem and emboldens would-be assailants."

More:
https://cpj.org/2019/08/chihuahua-daily-el-monitor-de-parral-suspends-prin.php