Dipnote

The State Department has launched its first blog, Dipnote..here's what Sean McCormack has to say about it in his welcome message..:
"Welcome to the State Department's first-ever blog, Dipnote. As a communicator for the Department, I have the opportunity to do my fair share of talking on a daily basis. With the launch of Dipnote, we are hoping to start a dialogue with the public. More than ever, world events affect our daily lives--what we see and hear, what we do, and how we work. I hope 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.

With Dipnote we are going to take you behind the scenes at the State Department and bring you closer to the personalities of the Department. We are going to try and break through some of the jargon and talk about how we operate around the world.

We invite you to participate in this community, and I am looking forward to stepping away from my podium every now and then into the blogosphere. Let the conversation begin."

see also New York Times article

DOS/USAID Strategic Plan

Embassy speakers asked to explain what the State Department does might find the DOS/USAID Strategic Plan useful. It is a handsome, illustrated publication that explains the objectives of U.S. foreign policy and the State Department's role in simple terms. The pdf version of the 2007-2012 plan is available at www.state.gov/documents/organization/86291.pdf

New PD strategy

Caroline Walters at the USC center for Public Diplomacy writes:
"After extensive input from various government agencies, private sector communication professionals, and over thirty independent studies of U.S. public diplomacy, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes unveiled her new national strategic communications plan on May 31. The plan is a result of more than a year of effort by Hughes and her staff, and is considered the first comprehensive national strategy ever developed for public diplomacy.

Strangely, the document is not to be found on the www.state.gov or usinfo.state.gov sites - even the public diplomacy and public affairs page at State, and its "public diplomacy update" section, fail to mention it.