So Why Did Bellemare Choose Now Lebanon For His Interview?

If Lebanese newspapers had faces, they’d all have a puzzled look today.

Many of the dailies are wondering: Why did the prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) choose a news website to deliver a page-1 headline scoop interview?

Lebanese newspapers are still far from disrupted by the internet, and you can sense that their attitude was more “WTF” than “Shit I’m screwed.” Some Hezbollah-friendly newspapers pounced on the fact that Now Lebanon is close to March 14, and the wild-eyed conspiracy theorists are probably gearing up to use this as proof that both the STL and Now Lebanon are “American controlled bodies.”

While I’m personally a strong supporter of web journalism and of Now Lebanon (I have many friends who work there), I can’t help but find Mr. Bellemare’s choice at best naive and at worst impetuous. He needlessly opened the door to speculations about political preference and access control, when he could have simply communicated his position in a press release or, if he must talk, a press conference.

I’m happy that Now Lebanon got the scoop, but Mr. Bellemare should have known that in such an explosive political environment, the messenger is as important as the message.