• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, December 10, 2009

Benjamin Franklin was more than just one of the country's Founding Fathers. He was also a blogger.

At least that's how Franklin was described this morning during a Senate judiciary committee hearing about whether a reporter's shield law should exclude bloggers, citizen journalists and other nonprofessionals.

The committee voted to pass the proposed law after rejecting an amendment proposed by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would have defined journalists as people working for news organizations. Some commentators said the amendment's definition was so restrictive that it could have excluded even professionals who wrote for online-only publications.

The proposed shield law itself is relatively narrow, providing only that journalists can sometimes protect the identity of their sources.

Feinstein said at the hearing that she favored a narrow definition of journalist because including amateurs and others would mark a "weakening of the profession of journalism."

But other lawmakers successfully countered that bloggers, freelancers and amateur writers should have the same opportunity to protect their sources as professionals on staff.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) endorsed the "carefully crafted" bill's inclusion of bloggers, and hailed Benjamin Franklin for his "anonymous blogs" that explained "the reasons why this country should exist."

Pamphleteer Thomas Paine likewise got a few mentions as the senators debated whether to define a journalist as someone employed by a mainstream organization.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) added that the medium that news appears in shouldn't determine whether journalists are covered. "People can do bad things on paper and good things on paper," he said. "They can do bad things electronically and good things electronically."