Missiles can't defend against the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, but accurate information, widely shared, can. Guns and knives can't uncover public officials on the take, but scrupulous research and careful interviews can. Information and ideas, and the ability to freely share them, are the world's most powerful weapons.
That's why freedom of the press matters at home and abroad. American foreign policy may be entering an isolationist phase, but international issues, from rising seas to smuggled drugs to hacked computer networks, will continue landing on our shores. We need journalists in all sorts of places to gather information and distribute it to the general public. We need that information to stay safe.
But 2017 was a bad year for reporters. At least 42 journalists were killed in the line of duty _ murdered outright, caught in combat crossfire, or mortally injured on assignment _ according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That figure doesn't include reporters killed in vehicle or plane accidents, or those wounded or imprisoned because of their work. Local journalists _ people from the areas they report on _ faced the highest risk.
The number of reporters killed is down from a decade high of 74 in 2012, but other threats are rising. Record numbers of journalists are incarcerated. Turkey claimed first place for the most reporters behind bars with 73. China and Egypt ranked second and third.
Mexico is a special concern. It is one of the world's most dangerous places for reporters _ six were murdered there last year and many others attacked or threatened. And its government consistently fails to identify, prosecute and punish those who order the killings.
Also, circumstantial evidence suggests that Mexican officials planted spyware in the mobile devices of some investigative journalists, anti-corruption campaigners and human rights advocates.
Mexico, like the United States, protects freedom of expression in its constitution. That country's next president should make defending freedom of expression a key priority. We'd love to see our most prominent public officials, from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, defend it zealously, too.
