TELEVISIONCourting the Right?: A couple of print...

TELEVISION

Courting the Right?: A couple of print interviews with ABC News anchor Peter Jennings and “World News Tonight” Executive Producer Emily Rooney--in which Jennings talks of paying “more attention to what the conservatives are saying” and Rooney discusses trying to “tap more into a conservative point of view . . . rather than the traditional media liberal spin”--have some correspondents worried that ABC News is headed toward the far right. Not so, said an ABC spokeswoman, who would not confirm reports that a staff meeting in New York had been scheduled Tuesday to reassure staffers. The network did confirm, however, that it is “actively pursuing” the hiring of a religion correspondent for its major news programs as part of a strategy to make coverage “more inclusive.” Jennings and other news managers reportedly want better clarification of how religious and political issues intersect, and they weren’t happy about the lack of historical information regarding the Branch Davidian cult before the tragedy in Waco, Tex., unfolded earlier this year.

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More on TV Violence: Representatives of the National Parent Teachers Assn. and the National Education Assn. have been invited to join members of the children’s television industry at an Oct. 28-29 conference in Burbank to discuss the flak over violence on TV. Coordinated by UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and organized by DIC Entertainment, which produces children’s shows such as the upcoming “Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego,” the conference aims to set standards and guidelines for children’s programming.

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Et Tu, Burt?: As he had in an appearance on “The Tonight Show” a couple of weeks ago, Burt Reynolds told “The Chevy Chase Show” audience Monday night that he’d said some stupid things recently about his estranged wife, Loni Anderson. Chase, apparently seeking to comfort the actor, said, “I’ve said stupider things--on this show!” To which Reynolds deadpanned, “But nobody was watching.”

POP/ROCK

Elvis Tribute Planned: Priscilla Presley announced plans Tuesday for “Elvis Aron Presley--The Tribute,” an all-star concert honoring Elvis Presley, scheduled in downtown Memphis for the weekend of Oct. 7, 1994. No performers are confirmed yet, but Priscilla Presley said the concert would feature “the vision and talent of people who impacted, and were impacted by, Elvis’ life and his music.” The event will be packaged for worldwide television broadcast, and proceeds will be split between the T.J. Martell Foundation, which raises funds for children’s leukemia, cancer and AIDS research, and the Memphis-based St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

MOVIES

‘The Greatest’ Redux?: Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali is supporting a friend’s effort to make another movie about his life, saying his 1976 film, “The Greatest,” “wasn’t done right” and “didn’t really show my life, just boxing and my girlfriends.” Now Ali’s friend, New York advertising executive Paul Ardaji, wants to try to make a film that will spotlight Ali’s cultural impact in and out of the boxing ring. Ardaji said the film would be “an epic movie with a $40-million budget,” but admitted he is still looking for a director, screenwriter and co-producer.

THE ARTS

Discussing AIDS Losses: Two panel discussions dealing with cultural loss resulting from the AIDS crisis will be held this week. The first, focusing on assisting artists living with AIDS, takes place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the J. Paul Getty Museum, and a second session, on estate planning for artists with AIDS, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Barnsdall Art Park’s Gallery Theater. The free public forums are co-sponsored by Los Angeles’ Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities and the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS, a New York-based group that is stepping up efforts in California to preserve the works of artists with AIDS. Speakers include painter Elsa Flores, executor of the Carlos Almaraz estate; Leonard Bloom, CEO of AIDS Project Los Angeles; and writer, poet and cultural activist Essex Hemphill. The forums are part of “TranscEND AIDS,” a series of city-sponsored exhibitions and performances scheduled through Nov. 20.

QUICK TAKES

With a $2-million endowment, Time Warner Inc. has established the Steven J. Ross/Time Warner Dean’s Chair at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television. Honoring the late Time Warner chairman, the chair’s first holder will be Elizabeth Daley, the school’s dean. . . . The Washington Opera has canceled the first two productions of its season because the Kennedy Center Orchestra has been on strike since Sept. 1 in a wage dispute. The company’s next scheduled production is Donizetti’s “Daughter of the Regiment,” opening Dec. 26. . . . Actor Harrison Ford, director James Cameron and producer Saul Zaentz have each donated $50,000 to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Center for Motion Picture Study. . . . Buddy Guy won top honors at the Memphis Blues Foundation’s 14th annual Handy Awards, receiving trophies for top entertainer, blues guitarist of the year and best contemporary blues album. Etta James was named top female blues vocalist.