MEXICAN JOURNALISTS SEEK MORE PROTECTION

Journalists in Juarez demonstrated during the weekend as part of
protests across Mexico asking authorities to do more to safeguard
members of the news media and freedom of the press.

A demonstration on Saturday in front of the Mexico attorney general's
office building in Juarez coincided with a march of more than 1,000
journalists in Mexico City.

The demonstration was to "condemn the constant aggression we have been
subject to in this climate of insecurity and violence in the entire
country," stated the Juarez Society of Journalists and
Communicators.

The aggression against journalists has increased from both law
enforcement agents and criminal groups as a drug war has raged in
Juarez and other parts of the state of Chihuahua and Mexico.

The potential for dangerous situations for the news media led to a
collaboration between press organizations and Mexican government
agencies to compile the just-issued Handbook of Security for
Journalists in High-risk Situations, which lists advice for the media.

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders ranks Mexico as the
most dangerous country for the news media in the Western Hemisphere
with 67 journalists killed since 2000 and 11 others missing since
2003. Many others have self-censored their work, quit reporting or
moved away for their safety.

Late last month, Juarez television journalist Martin Lopez Castro of
Channel 44 fled to El Paso after a graffiti message by a drug cartel
threatened him with decapitation.

The threat emerged after Lopez's brother, Juarez transit police
Officer Donaldo A. Lopez Castro, was arrested in El Paso, accused of
trying to smuggle ammunition into Mexico.

The group Journalists Against Violence in Chihuahua lists 13
reporters, editors and other members of the news media slain in the
state since 2000, including seven since a war between the Juarez and
Sinaloa drug cartels erupted in 2008.