Robert Worth's article was very interesting with regards to the development theory of media. The fact that Al-Jazeera took a substantial period of time to become a "fair and balanced" network (with no regards to FOX News) begs the question: should the government of Qatar stepped in and molded Al-Jazeera in a way to create more balanced programming?
It is worth nothing that Al-Jazeera has historically been silent on issues pertaining to the Qatar government, in a form of silent self-censorship. But would it have been best for the people of the Mideast world to have a reformed Al-Jazeera immediately?
I think the answer is no; the losses from having a biased network are far outweighed by the benefits of Al-Jazeera modifying itself on its own. Any form of government intervention will immediately be looked at in a negative way by viewers (Iranians basically ignore state TV, for example). Even regulation with the best intentions would be looked at as propaganda, so I believe the path Al-Jazeera has taken, free of regulation, was the best for the network and its viewers.
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