Journalists Aren’t 'Fake News.' They’re Patriots

On Monday, journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by a car bomb.

She led the research into the Panama Papers, which exposed tens of billions of dollars of stolen money, much of it stolen by dictators. More recently, her enterprising work helped to show how much of her native Malta’s government was for sale. She did as much to drain the global swamp as anyone. Her work likely got her killed. She’s a hero.

Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post spent more than 18 months in an Iranian prison on false espionage charges. His real crime? Seeking to help Americans understand one of America’s most problematic foes. He sacrificed his freedom and his health for his country. He’s a patriot.

Foreign reporters go to North Korea more than foreign diplomats — indeed, in such a closed and repressive regime, journalists are one of our few sources of good information on the country. Laura Ling, a journalist, spent months in a North Korean prison cell for helping us learn about that nation. We owe her tremendous gratitude.

Read the full op-ed in Independent Journal Review.