Frontline World stories from a small planet, June 23, 2009

Summary: As the digital television conversion makes tens of millions of analog TVs obsolete and Americans continue to trash old computers and cell phones at alarming rates, FRONTLINE/WORLD presents a global investigation into the dirty secret of the digital age -- the dumping of hundreds of millions of pounds of electronic waste around the world each year. Tracking "e-waste" to the slums of Ghana and the far-off provinces in China, producer/correspondent Peter Klein and his team of graduate journalism students fan out around the world to document the growing impact of this toxic trash on those who desperately scavenge it for precious metals. They also explore the potential threats to privacy, as criminal gangs attempt to harvest data from America's old computers and cell phones and exploit it. Also, a popular competition to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs in the Middle East and a pioneering effort to make an affordable wheelchair for the developing world." -- Container.