I try not to pass on every rumour I hear, but on at least two separate occasions recently strong hints have been dropped to me that suggest a management shake up is coming soon at Al Jazeera English. This is code for someone replacing CEO Nigel Parsons.

Parsons has survived much longer than I would have predicted – given the delays launching the channel – but now that it has been running for a while it needs to move on, and Parsons might well feel the same.

If there’s a problem with AJE for me, it’s that it doesn’t have an editorial voice, and it doesn’t get talked about (except when David Frost forgot to ask Benazir Bhutto if OBL really was dead). Ultimately, that editorial voice needs to emanate from the Middle East, rather than from the mineral depths of a glass of Chablis.

Someone Middle Eastern, with a serious editorial background and who understands Washington might be a good choice. Who might that be?