For example on January 27 , 1999 Al Jazeera had critics of the government of Algeria on their live program El-Itidjah el-Mouakass ( Arabic for The Opposite Direction ) . Critics accused Al Jazeera of sensationalism in order to increase its audience share . Al Jazeera 's broadcasts have sometimes resulted in drastic action : for example , when , on 27 January 1999 , critics of the Algerian government appeared on the channel 's live program El-Itidjah el-Mouakass ( `` The Opposite Direction '' ) , the Algerian government cut the electricity supply to large parts of the capital Algiers ( and allegedly also to large parts of the country ) , to prevent the program from being seen .