Hawaii Legislature passes nation's 36th shield law

The Hawaii Legislature approved the nation's 36th shield law and now the bill goes to the govenor for signing. Similar to the Maine shield law passed a few weeks ago, this legislation allows protections for anyone committing acts of journalism, whether they work for a newspaper, produce an ongoing blog gathering information for the public good, or publishing a neighborhood newsletter. The definition of those provided protection against willy-nilly subpoenas includes anyone who "has regularly and materially participated in the reporting or publishing of news or information of substantial public interest for the purpose of dissemination to the general public by the means of tangible or electronic media." So the law protects journalists of all stripes and at the same time does not create a legal government-imposed classification of journalists (which is a slippery slope toward licensing and government control of journalists). Seems to make good sense. See story.