Frontline/World

Lowell Bergman examines the global media. Included: Al Jazeera and how it has changed the media landscape; the South Korean online newspaper OhmyNews, which encourages “citizen journalists” to contribute stories.

Season 8 begins with the story of an Italian restaurant owner who refused to pay the required monthly "tax" from the Mafia, under the backing of the anti-crime activists and law enforcement. Also included is a story of Chinese Muslims who are being detained at Guatanamo Bay, Cuba; and a Brazilian politician who legally changed his name to Barack Obama.

An examination by Sharmeen Obaid of the Taliban's increasing power and influence over Pakistan. Also, South Korea's possible newest public health crisis: Internet addiction.

An exploration of Pakistan's struggles against the Taliban. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy unveils the attempt to sway the hearts and minds of the citizens of Karachi and treks across the country. David Montero investigates the death of a friend/journalist against the Taliban during an Army Swat Valley campaign.

An investigation concerning the dumping of electronic junk worldwide, including China and Ghana, and what dangers it presents to the scavengers who seek precious metals from the devices to melt down. Also included is a report on criminals who seek information from old computers and cell phones. Another story is about the efforts put forth to create an affordable wheelchair for developing countries; plus, entrepreneurial competition which is taking place in the Middle East.

The Season 9 premiere examines the carbon trade in the Amazon; the repercussions of a 2008 immigration raid at a kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa; and a new approach to the threat of cross-species diseases.q

FRONTLINE/World investigates one of its own stories — "The Play Pump" — an apparently breakthrough idea to harness the energy of children to pump drinking water throughout remote areas of southern Africa. After FRONTLINE/World aired the story in 2005, major donors in the United States — and the U.S. government itself — launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to install the device in thousands of African schools and villages. Now, correspondent Amy Costello investigates what happened to those communities as the promise of the Play Pump fell short and the device's biggest American boosters began to back away from a technology they had once championed.