"We Are in the Hands of the Narcos"

That's how a reporter for the Nuevo Laredo daily El Mañana describes the situation facing the newspaper.

Truckloads of police guard the periodical in the days after a couple of masked gunmen shot up the newsroom and threw a grenade, injuring a reporter.

The Mexican journalist, who asks to remain unidentified out of concern for his safety, tells the Houston Chronicle that the newspaper edits out references to the drug cartels from his stories.

"We are in the hands of the narcos, and we have to acknowledge that," the reporter said. "They are the ones who are setting the conditions. They make up the rules. They run things."

Meanwhile, journalists everywhere condemn the attack on the newspaper, El Mañana reports, including journalists at English and Spanish-language outlets in the Rio Grande Valley.

At least the Mexican government finally names a special prosecutor for crimes against reporters in that country, months after President Vicente Fox said he would. Here's hoping the prosecutor catches the people who did this.