"Al Jazeera may be up for sale, although buyers may be few and far between, considering it is still a loss-making enterprise, requiring an annual financial injection of more than $50 million (Dh183.5 million). To turn it around financially, a buyer would be obliged to pull its teeth, which would incense its team of professional journalists, many of whom formerly worked for the BBC."

It's probably true -- that new owners would be concerned with the bottomline more than the continuing the same approach to news -- but, given that the current owner of Al Jazeera is an unelected ruling family, it doesn't stop me from thinking how odd it sounds to bemoan the sale on these grounds. While not taking any credit away from Al Jazeera for its profound effect on opening up Middle East journalism, isn't the bigger concern whether new owners will have true freedom of the press? Combining Al Jazeera's brand recognition with freedom to report could be compatible with profit and truth. (Note also that Al Jazeera's success has attracted subsidized imitators in other Gulf countries who have cut into its market, increasing its losses.)