Reporters and bloggers would be protected from having to reveal their sources and notes under a bill passed yesterday by the state House and Senate and now is heading to Gov. Linda Lingle for her signature.

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia have shield laws that cover reporters, and a federal shield law is being considered in the U.S. Congress.

Gerald Kato, a former Advertiser reporter now with the University of Hawai'i-Manoa School of Communications, said a shield law would provide reporters with some degree of certainty about what type of material is protected.

The state Supreme Court, in Appeal of Goodfader in 1961, held that an Advertiser reporter had no First Amendment or state right to refuse to disclose the identity of a source who told him about the impending firing of the city Civil Service Commission's personnel director.

Kato also said the bill recognizes the potential role of bloggers in creating journalism that is in the public interest.

"I think, for the nontraditional media, it's a great advance," he said.

State Attorney General Mark Bennett had wanted broader exemptions in the bill for law enforcement investigations but signed off on a compromise reached with news media attorney Jeff Portnoy last week.

"I think it is important that we protect journalistic sources, but as with anything else, you're balancing the interests in the press and journalists against, in some circumstances, like if there is a threat to public safety — somebody knows about a bomb that's going to go off — the public interest," Bennett said.

State Rep. Blake Oshiro, D-33rd ('Aiea, Halawa Valley, 'Aiea Heights), vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the bill would "help make the First Amendment freedom of the press actually meaningful, to provide protection so they can truly do their jobs and keep government and Big Business accountable."

The courts could compel disclosure from reporters in felony cases, or in civil cases involving defamation, provided prosecutors and defense attorneys meet a three-part test. Attorneys must show substantial evidence that the material being sought is unavailable from alternative sources, noncumulative, and necessary to the investigation or defense.

Bloggers and citizen journalists would be covered if their work is materially similar to traditional reporters and is in the public interest.

The bill would sunset in three years so lawmakers can review its application.

Ian Lind, a freelance writer and blogger who works for state Rep. Lyla Berg, D-18th (Kuli'ou'ou, Niu Valley, 'Aina Haina), described the bill as an advance even though bloggers will be held to a different standard than traditional reporters.

"Not all bloggers are going to be happy, but as I read the bill, it gives bloggers the level of legal protection that mainstream journalists enjoy today," Lind said. "In my view, it's definitely a step up."

State Rep. Barbara Marumoto, R-19th (Wai'alae Iki, Kalani Valley, Kahala,) said the bill is too broad and would protect "unscrupulous online bloggers." The bloggers, she said, are not held to the same ethical standards as professional journalists.

"The definition is not narrow enough," Marimoto said. "Any bloggers are accountable only to themselves."