Couric In An Unfamiliar Place -- 3rd

Last week, executive producer Rome Hartman received strong protests from the newsroom after airing a commentary by Brian Rohrbough, the father of a student slain at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999. In addressing recent school shootings in Colorado and Pennsylvania, Rohrbough said the public schools have taught students in a "moral vacuum" by emphasizing evolution and keeping religion out of the classroom.

Critics complained the opinion piece was not relevant to the current tragedies, especially since the most recent shooting happened at an Amish school.

Hartman, who said he was surprised by the topic Rohrbough chose to address, said he nevertheless didn't believe it would have been "in keeping with the spirit of the segment" to ask him to change the piece.

The executive producer called the feedback from newsroom employees "a very healthy conversation." Although the intense scrutiny of the broadcast's performance is "a little bit distracting" for staffers, Hartman said, the mood internally was upbeat. "It's a little frustrating that people treat what is our beginning as if it was some kind of end. These things take a long time to change."

In the last month, longtime leader NBC has steadily regained its advantage over the other two newscasts. "Nightly News" executive producer John Reiss said, "We knew there would be a lot of sampling in the early days, and it stood to reason that a disproportionate amount would come from us." He noted that many NBC viewers were likely already Couric fans. "I think they're coming back to us, and we're very gratified."

For its part, ABC attracted the most 25- to 54-year-old women in the last month, a demographic many expected would flock to Couric.

"This thing has not completely shaken itself out yet," said "World News" executive producer Jon Banner. "We have a lot of work to do, and we're not going to be satisfied until we're No. 1."

matea.gold@latimes.com