Happy birthday, IntelNews
November 16, 2009 11 Comments
1 year intelNews
By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A year ago today, on November 16, 2008, intelNews began its beta period, with a brief note I wrote on “Obama’s intelligence policy”. A year and over 750 postings later, Joseph Fitsanakis and I are still here, typing away on the ins and outs of the intelligence world. In these 12 months, we have enjoyed some welcome coverage in both the scholarly and popular press. We have also been threatened with a lawsuit, had our identities questioned, and denounced as “a very naive lot”, or as “spies” and “agent provocateurs” (in private correspondence). At the same time, we have seen visitor numbers rapidly exceed the 1,000-a-day mark and our email inboxes overfilled with messages, day after day. After 12 months of systematic blogging, one thing is clear: people around the world want to make sense of intelligence –that important, yet routinely unseen, parameter that shapes our lives through systems and techniques that remain largely unknown to the non-expert. This is precisely the role of IntelNews. At a time when national and global politics is routinely determined by covert means, we try to raise public awareness and initiate discussion about the role and limits of intelligence and espionage in our 21st century. Remember that this site is free. It is not driven by profit or by other narrow-minded aspirations. Rather, it is driven by the will of two colleagues and friends to share their passion for the scholarly and popular study of intelligence, in a systematic and accessible way. Thanks to all of you who have become regular visitors in the past year. We would love to hear from you on how we are doing so far.
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Keep up the good work. The site is developing well, with solid writing and consistency in updates. I lke the fact that the posts are not too long and usually get straight to the point. I love the “news you may have missed” feature.
I have been a reader almost since the beginning. I visit your blog every day and recommend you to loads of people. Thanks for your work.
Happy birthday from England! Love your blog and visit via Google reader every morning. Looking forward to your second birthday.
Congratulations. I too have been following for some time and would like to offer my thanks for your efforts.
some of your news links are a bit old but make for great reading regardless
i would appreciate more terrorism-related coverage
but on the whole great content and blog
I’m hooked !
I visit Intelnews every day and am very impressed by the variety of news stories and commentary on very important issues. It’s interesting, when you think how secretive intelligence work generally is, to see so many relevant stories pop up every day in the world. How do you find all this material?
Also, your writing and overall approach is very authoritative and professional. Than you both for your had work. Linda
Wishing you many more years to come. Thanks for the great service. This type of weblog is definitely needed.
Happy birthday from Taipei city, Taiwan.
Congrats. A valuable resource to the area of intelligence/academia.
Thanks for this great blog. I intend to keep visiting regularly