By Alejandro Martínez
The Mexican newspaper El Mañana in Nuevo Laredo, one of the publications most effected by armed attacks on its reporters and offices, was recently the target of two cyberattacks on Sunday, May 12 that interrupted the website's service, reported the newspaper.
The attacks were reported after the publication of two reports that questioned municipal authorities' response to the case of a family that was carried away by a river and drowned, the website's editor in chief, Daniel Rosas, told Article 19.
This is not the first time that the newspaper has suffered an attack like this. There have been at least six other cyberattacks during this year, usually after the publication of reports about the performance of local authorities, reported the newspaper in a press release.
In response, the newspaper filed a complaint with the federal attorney general (PGR in Spanish), said El Mañana's General Director Cantú Deándar in the statement. PGR officials, who are already investigating two open cases of previous cyberattacks against the newspaper, said they would appear at the publication's offices, reported El Mañana.
"We take these types of actions very seriously and that's why we decided to file a complaint. We don't believe in coincidences, obviously the attacks we're facing are systematic," Cantú Deandar said.
The newspaper, located along the U.S.-Mexico border and considered the territory of the dangerous criminal organization Los Zetas, has been the target of three armed attacks since 2006. From that year, and after the killing of its editorial director in 2004, the newspaper stopped publishing news about drug trafficking.
Since 2011, Article 19 has reported 15 cyberattacks on Mexican journalists and media organizations.
Click here to read the full press statement released by El Mañana after the Sunday cyberattack (in Spanish).
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
