Al Jazeera controversies and criticism that he recognizes Iran as Islamic regional power and criticizes Saudi and Trump's policy toward Iran. He also praised Lebanese organization Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas. However, Qatar denied such reports and said QNA was allegedly hacked and they are still investigating the issue. In January 2009 Al Jazeera aired a documentary on toxic waste dumped in Somalia. A Somali journalist who studied the contents of the two-part Al Jazeera documentary, "The Toxic Truth", has concluded that Al Jazeera failed to rigorously research the story because one of the letters used to substantiate arms smuggling was issued on 15
Al Jazeera America several media awards including the Peabody, Emmy, and Shorty Awards and citations from groups such as the National Association of Black Journalists and Native American Journalist Association. However, the network experienced low viewership ratings, averaging between 20,000 and 40,000 viewers on a typical day. Following the network's shutdown, Al Jazeera Media Network is planning on expanding its digital presence in the United States through ventures such as United States-based AJ+. On February 26, 2016, the Al Jazeera America website ceased operations. On February 11, 2016, writing in the television trade magazine, Broadcasting and Cable, industry pundit Joe Mohen proposed a