State Department Launches Dipnote

Posted on September 30, 2007

The U.S. State Department has started a blog called Dipnote. Dipnote's about page says the blog offers the public an alternative source to the mainstream media on U.S. foreign policy matters.

The mission of the U.S. Department of State is to create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community.
Through its websites and other online resources, the Department offers broad public access to a wide range of information. Blogs.state.gov offers the public an alternative source to mainstream media for U.S. foreign policy information. This blog offers the opportunity for participants to discuss important foreign policy issues with senior Department officials.

Two bloggers are listed on the about page: Frederick Jones, who has been a member of the Foreign Service for ten years, and Masharika Prejean who serves as Special Assistant to Spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, Sean McCormack. The site says Masharika Prejean is the "voice of the blog" and she has been given just one point of instruction - "there are no rules."

A Computerworld article says reaction to Dipnote was mixed based on a selection of comments left on the blog.

Initial response to the blog was mixed. "John from Oregon" wrote, "It's great to see some extra sunlight coming into the State Department's long dark corridors with the launch of the new blog today. My hope is that this tried and tested 'disinfectant' can help restore some of the luster to the reputation of the U.S.A. here at home and among our friends throughout the world."
However, "Cynthia from California" noted that, "This new blog seems to be an effort at transparency, but given the U.S. State Department's warlike actions, I'm skeptical that this will actually encourage dialogue. I'm curious to know if this will be a two-way conversation, whether postings will reach people in positions of authority at the State Department. In other words, [will] the public's opinions and concerns be considered and [will] they will have any influence? [Will] the Bush Administration's viewpoint will be promoted here to the exclusion of independent and humane thinking and to the detriment of our country's standing in the world? [Is] this blog simply a PR tool for the Administration disguised as a dialogue? I'm not optimistic for a real exchange of ideas, but I hope I'm wrong."

Concerns about the Bush Administration, the Iraq War and the War on Terror should ultimately keep Dipnote bombarded with comments. There are also issues like Darfur and Burma that people will want to discuss and leave comments. People get very passionate about politics so it will be interesting to see what Dipnote does if flame wars erupt. So far it is fairly quite comment-wise except for the 60-some comments on the welcome post. The most recent post here which asks "Who Should be Allowed To Possess Nuclear Technology?" already has about 70 responses. There is a post about Iraq here by Noel Clay -- a Press Officer working in the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad - but most of the responses are from people that know him.