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. We need journalists in all sorts of places to gather information and distribute it to the general public.
But 2017 was a bad year for reporters. At least 42 journalists were killed in the line of duty, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
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.
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.
Commentary on 01/18/2018