While the March 14 coalition is suffering from financial scarcity, which explains why some news websites funded by this group are shutting down or cutting down on expenses, the March 8 camp seems to have an abundance in money; megabucks are being wasted on websites, whose visitors do not exceed a dozen daily, and on media figures whose role consist in defending said alliance's policies.

We needn't mention any names for they are well known to everyone; even so, audacity is often taken to a different level whereby some of these websites' owners do not hesitate to admit that their monthly salaries are provided by Hezbollah.

Some of these sites and media outlets are almost non-operational; they  merely serve as a front used for exposure and a platform that justifies financial income.

These people, labeled as political analysts, are considered among the ones who appear the most on the media. They usually come from modest backgrounds and have achieved a mediocre success in the field of journalism.

Not only that, but some of them have shifted from the March 14 coalition to the rival March 8 to benefit from the camp's cash overflow, thus garnering the "plunders" sprinkled onto those who choose to "reposition".  

These mouthpieces have been gathered to form a class of individuals hosted on talk shows that need some "action" which is easily provided by the guests who are excellent at talking too much, yelling, cursing, even throwing water bottles and storming out of the studio in protest… These are the "rituals" required for the recruiters' success, with all the benefits that come along such as monthly salaries and allocations that vary between 5 and 15 thousand dollars based on each person's performance.

In addition, sectarian affiliation can be an additional factor that helps raise the amount of money received.

However, to be fair, these media figures are not exclusively recruited by the March 8 coalition; in fact, the Future Movement had also adopted the same media policy before it suffered a financial setback, leaving Hezbollah as the sole benefactor.

It is worth mentioning that major complaints regarding these so-called media figures are being made by March 8 parties themselves. Politicians affiliated to said camp exchange stories about these advertisers' background that is marred by flaws as bad as some utterances in television interviews that are nothing short of indecent.

Article originally written in Arabic by Dany Haddad