Politics always offers surprising twists and turns.
Take the effort to make the journalists’ shield law permanent, including the protections it has offered to nontraditional as well as corporate journalists. It was the subject of a post here earlier this week, and is being tracked by Civil Beat.
It sounds like the kind of First Amendment hugging bill that would be guaranteed to get the support of the new, more progressive leadership in the House.
Not so much.
Instead, that idea has been turned on its head. The primary introducer of HB622–which in its original form would have simply made the existing law permanent, without diluting or weakening the protections it offers–was former award-winning journalist Gregg Takayama, joined by representatives who had been aligned with former Speaker Calvin Say’s faction in the recently ended leadership fight–Isaac Choy, Sharon Har, Linda Ichiyama, Ken Ito, Derek Kawakami, Marcus Oshiro, Jimmy Tokioka, Clift Tsuji, Ryan Yamane, and Say.
It was the new House leadership, widely presumed to be more progressive, that moved the bill forward with amendments that significantly weaken the protections it offers journalists of all stripes. It is now pending in the Senate, where its fate remains uncertain at best.
And in the latest unusual twist, an email is circulating among gun rights advocates urging them to step up to defend the First Amendment rights of journalists.
Well, if we are so adamant about our Second Amendment rights, we should show the public that the gun community cares about other rights as well. Right now HB 622 is in danger of squashing the few independent newspapers and journalists that are willing to stand up to the political powers that be. I think it would be good for us in the Second Amendment community to stand up for a free voice in our State and stop these politicians from trying to create an Orwellian 1984-type society where we have only one source of information and the party line is the only one we will be hearing….
I would hope that you would inform all our friends and families of the importance of this legislation and the need to have a strong First Amendment. It is important in my view that the State Legislature continue supporting the First Amendment and put their vote where their mouth is.
The email specifically urges support for the bill in its original form.
That sound you heard was the shattering political assumptions.
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The problem here Ian is quite simple….the legislators know that the general public doesn’t understand nor care why the shield law is important so they feel they can do whatevers….frankly, just look at how many comments you had to your original post and even today I am probably the only comment thus far. If it’s about the roads or the choo choo you will get plenty….let’s face it, nobody cares. sad…but true. It’s a shame but that’s where we are as a society today. Apathy, total and complete when it comes to local politics.
My hunch: Secret lawmakers feel spiking the shield may be better than killing off another newspaper. The fewer “voices” out there, the better for them.
Likewise, the new power bloc in the legislature is whitewashing the PLDC rather than scrapping it. The Young Turks might not be so progressive after all, just more subtle. But the Old Guard were accused of the same. Plus ca change….
“. . . let’s face it, nobody cares . . . ” I think that it really boils down to people not understanding the issue until after they see the consequences. A train is easy to understand — “Shield law? What’s that?”
I care because the shield law directly affects me, but after years of writing letters to local politicians about various issues, only to be completely ignored or summarily dismissed every time, I have become very jaded about these things.
Hawaii government simply does not care what the people it represents think about anything. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but in my case it’s not apathy or a lack of understanding about the issues. It’s complete and utter cynicism.