Whither Dipnote?

This post was updated at 2:09 pm, Thursday, Sept. 27.

Update: The State Department now has made it clear on its Web site how to access its diplomatic group blog, Dipnote. Look for this link in the middle of the page:

dipnote.jpg






This post was updated at 12:43 pm, Wednesday, Sept. 26.

Update: It looks like the State Department did launch its Dipnote blog yesterday, as promised, with the hope that "Dipnote will provide you with a window into the work of the people responsible for our foreign policy, and will give you a chance to be active participants in a community focused on some of the great issues of our world today." The site is already attracting comments, with 18 comments posted so far. Entries include one from Tara Rigler, a civil servant working as the Deputy Press Attaché at U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, on what it's like "to live overseas for the U.S. Department of State." Another post from Kristen Silverberg, assistant secretary for International Organization Affairs, who writes about the U.S. agenda at the United Nations.

The public has commented on most of the blog posts. "Brianna in Wisconsin" wrote in response to Dipnote's question of the week ("What should determine who should be allowed to possess nuclear technology and who should not?"), "If one country is able to posses nuclear weapons I feel another country should be able to, to. Fair is fair we don't govern the world and we should stop acting like we do."

And Joe wrote in response to the blog's introduction, "We'll see if this is gonna be another partisan hack job."

Now, if State could just make it easier to find Dipnote.

The original post follows:

As reported by the Associated Press, the State Department intended to launch yesterday a group blog written by "senior [State Department] players in Washington and abroad." Called "Dipnote," the blog, according to the AP, aims to give an insiders view into the diplomatic process and a way for Americans to comment on foreign policy. State intended for the first blog items to be written on "the annual [United Nations] meeting in New York City and the role that the department's diplomatic security agents play in protecting the foreign dignitaries that swarm Manhattan for the event," according to the AP.

But Dipnote does not appear on the State Department Web site, and a search does not return any results. Blogging Lesson One: For those who blog, finding time in a busy day to write frequent posts is the first challenge. We're sure it was a long day for the security agents.