Main publication in Ciudad Juárez asks city's drug cartels what they want after the murder of second employee in two years

The main newspaper in Mexico's most violent city is to restrict its coverage of the drug war after a second journalist on its payroll was killed in less than two years.

The move by El Diario de Juárez comes as international press representatives are set to urge the Mexican government to make security for journalists a national priority.

Its front-page editorial yesterday asked drug cartels warring in Ciudad Juárez to say what they want from the newspaper, so it can continue its work without further death, injury or intimidation of its staff.

"Leaders of the different organisations that are fighting for control of Ciudad Juárez: the loss of two reporters from this publishing house in less than two years represents an irreparable sorrow for all of us who work here, and, in particular, for their families," the editorial said. "We ask you to explain what you want from us, what we should try to publish or not publish, so we know what to expect."

It was the newspaper's second front-page editorial since gunmen attacked two El Diario photographers on Thursday – one a new employee and the other an intern. Luis Carlos Santiago, 21, died and the intern was seriously wounded as they left their office to have lunch. In 2008, a crime reporter was slain outside his home as he was taking his daughters to school.

At least 22 Mexican journalists have been killed over the past four years, at least eight of them targeted over their reports on crime and corruption, says the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based media watchdog.

The CPJ plans to present its report to the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, on Wednesday. At least seven other journalists have gone missing and more have fled the country, the report says.

Many media outlets, especially in areas near the US border, have stopped covering the drug war. El Diario was not one of them – until yesterday.

"Even in one of the places where violence is worst ... El Diario was still doing a lot of good reporting on crime," said Carlos Lauria, a CPJ senior co-ordinator. "The fact that they're giving up is really bad. It's an indication that the situation is out of control."

Calderón's interior ministry condemned the murder, calling it an attack on freedom of expression for all Mexicans and saying that federal authorities are involved in the investigation.

But both of El Diario's front-page editorials accused the government of doing nothing about the intimidation and assaults on journalists by drug cartels.

In yesterday's editorial, the paper said it addressed its plea to the drug gangs because they are now the city's de facto authorities. It also said Calderón made several promises as a presidential candidate to protect journalists that have not been fulfilled.

Violence between two warring cartels in the past two years has killed nearly 5,000 people in a city of 1.3 million, making Ciudad Juárez one of the world's most dangerous cities.

"We don't want to continue to be used as cannon fodder in this war because we're tired," El Diario's editor, Pedro Torres, told the Associated Press.

He said his staff felt great rage, helplessness and despair after burying Santiago on Saturday. "Burying the body does not bury the impunity or pain," he said.