Violence prompts Mexican papers to close

MEXICO CITY, June 8 (UPI) -- Drug- and gang-related violence has prompted a handful of Mexican newspapers to shut their doors amid increasing attacks on journalists.

After a recent hand grenade attack, the country's largest newspaper chain decided to close one of its offices.

"For the good of all, I recognize the imperative need to make this painful and difficult decision and announce the temporary closure of the Cambio Sonora newspaper," Mario Vazquez Rana, president of Organizacion Editorial Mexicana, told Mexican readers in a published letter, The Arizona Republic reported Friday.

Mexico is the world's second-most dangerous place for reporters, said Reporters Without Borders, with nine journalists killed in the country in 2006.