Quick Takes - Aug. 3, 2012

NPR to cover diversity

National Public Radio, criticized in recent years over diversity of its staff and coverage, is using a $1.5-million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to put together a six-person team to report stories on race, ethnicity and culture.

NPR said Thursday that it would launch “a major storytelling initiative focused on the racial, ethnic, ideological and generational issues that define an increasingly diverse America.” The team will include two digital journalists, a correspondent, two reporters and an editor. The team will have a website and blog within NPR.org.

Scrutiny of NPR’s record on diversity has heightened since the October 2010 firing of commentator Juan Williams, who said on a Fox News Channel that he gets nervous on a plane when he sees Muslims. A recent investigation by NPR’s ombudsman found that 87% of NPR’s audience is white and 23% of its newsroom staff — reporters, editors, producers and managers — are racial or ethnic minorities.

—Associated Press

Games viewers watch live, taped

NBC’s researchers are finding that people who know the results of London Olympics events before they are shown on tape delay are more — not less — likely to watch them.

The preliminary research unveiled Thursday undercuts an assumption that has guided production of Olympic broadcasts from locales outside of U.S. time zones for decades.

NBC has been criticized for not televising live some of the London Games’ marquee events like swimming and gymnastics so they can be aired later in prime time.

Two-thirds of the 1,000 adults questioned in a survey Sunday said they watch the prime-time Olympics telecast even if they know the results ahead of time.

People who watched the events live earlier in the day via computer screen watched the tape-delayed broadcast 50% longer than those who hadn’t, said Alan Wurtzel, NBC’s chief researcher.

NBC has been getting far better ratings for the London Games than it ever expected, outpacing the 2008 Games in Beijing.

—Associated Press

Joker returns to Batman comics

The most famous supervillain in comic book history — the Joker – returns to the pages of Batman in a big way this year, DC Comics has announced on its website.

The new story, “Death of the Family,” which begins in October with issue No.13 of Batman, was planned long before themovie-theater shootingin Aurora, Colo.

The timing of the Joker’s return to the pages of the bestselling DC comic may discomfit some in the wake of the shooting during a screening of”The Dark Knight Rises.”SuspectJames E. Holmesreportedly referred to himself as the Joker during questioning by police.

Representatives of DC Comics did not respond to questions about the timing of the Joker’s return to the Batman story line.

—Geoff Boucher

La Toya Jackson to get own show

Oprah Winfrey has tapped La Toya Jackson to star in her own reality show.

“Life With La Toya” is described as a “candid look” inside Jackson’s life as she juggles family, friends and business. It will air next year on Winfrey’s TV network, OWN.

La Toya is one of Michael Jackson’s sisters.

She isn’t the first Jackson to get a reality show. “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty” aired for six episodes on A&E;, following Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Tito Jackson.

—Associated Press

Lorre vanity cards in a book

Fans of Chuck Lorre’s vanity cards, which appear at the end of his TV shows, will no longer have to hit pause on their DVRs to study them.

Lorre, who writes, produces and is a co-creator of sitcoms such as”Two and a Half Men,””The Big Bang Theory”and”Mike and Molly,”is publishing a coffee-table book of the cards titled “What Doesn’t Kill Us, Makes Us Bitter.”

Vanity cards are the graphics that air for a second or two at the end of his shows. The cards are often political, biting and even controversial.

The book will be published by Simon & Schuster, a division ofCBS Corp., in October.

—Associated Press

KUSC to air bowl concerts

The summer Hollywood Bowl season will extend into fall, courtesy of KUSC-FM (91.5). For the sixth year, the classical music station will broadcast 10 of this season’s concerts featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The series will air at 2 p.m. Saturdays beginning Aug. 11 and continuing through Oct. 13. KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen will serve as host and producer.

—Lee Margulies

Finally

Hosts: Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will host the Country Music Assn. Awards for a fifth time on Nov. 1.