Hawaii Media Still Unhappy With Latest Version of Shield Law
Time is running out for Hawaii lawmakers to negotiate a bill that would make the state permanent before it expires June 30.
There’s still disagreement over how much protection reporters should have from being forced to reveal their sources or notes — and who qualifies as a journalist.
With a Thursday deadline looming, senators responded Monday to the conference draft of that reps introduced last week. There was no discussion during the meeting about the new proposal, only a decision to defer action until 1 p.m. Thursday.
But a copy of the latest draft of the bill shows it would restore protections for unpublished information such as notes and video outtakes. Bloggers and other non-traditional media, however, would still lose the protections they have had since the current shield law took effect five years ago.
Sen. Clayton Hee and Rep. Karl Rhoads, who chair their respective chambers’ judiciary committees, are the lead negotiators of the nine-member that’s trying to reach an agreement.
senators went too far in their that eliminates protections for non-traditional media and unpublished information. They also disagreed with the part that requires reporters to work for publications that have a paid subscription if they want the shield law protection. This provision cuts out online news sites such as Huffington Post, ProPublica and YahooNews.
The House on Thursday proposed a compromise draft that eliminates protections for unpublished information, but restores the protections for bloggers and changes the language so journalists working for free online news sites would be covered.
One aspect of the bill that hasn’t changed much in the past few versions is the number of exemptions law enforcement could claim to subpoena notes or other information from journalists. The current law only provides exceptions for felonies or defamation cases, but the latest versions of HB622 open it up to all civil cases and potential felonies.
All the versions being considered thus far would scale back protections in the current shield law so far that a coalition of media outlets has said Hawaii would be better off without it.
A strong shield law is key for anonymous sources to feel comfortable divulging important public information. The law also deters law enforcement officers from subpoenaing journalists or their notes as a fishing expedition, media experts say.
The coalition simply wants the Legislature to remove the sunset provision from the current shield law. The coalition’s attorney, Jeff Portnoy, and other members have said the current law has worked great and should not be changed.
The law has only been tested once in court. A Kauai judge ruled in favor of a documentary filmmaker who was being subpoenaed for unpublished video footage from a story on Native Hawaiian burials.
Read the latest Senate draft of HB 622 here:
