There is a reason why at the CBS upfront in New York yesterday, the first CBS News correspondent mentioned by name was John Miller (the only other two mentioned by name were David Martin and Clarissa Ward).

Following the Boston bombing, the Benghazi investigation and other issues that involve law enforcement, Miller has proven to have impeccable sources in the law enforcement community. That was proven again this morning as he sent other networks scrambling to confirm another scoop: that Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scribbled a note appearing to confess to the crimes on the inside of the boat he was hiding in.

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Former ABC News president David Westin writes in The Huffington Post about CNN’s coverage of the Carnival Triumph disaster, and what it says about the state of TV news coverage.

Westin argued that the Triumph was a story worth covering, and doesn’t fault CNN for giving it more airtime than its competition. Rather he argues, “the problem isn’t with what TV news covers, it’s with what it doesn’t cover. Or doesn’t cover nearly enough.”

Specifically, he says there should be more stories from war zones like Syria, and places often cut off from western society like North Korea and the Congo.

What’s more, it’s a story that can be told well on television. Some TV reporters have shown us this, as did my former colleague, Clarissa Ward, who recently received an Alfred I. Dupont Award for her reporting on Syria for CBS News. In fairness, the other national TV news organizations have reported intermittently from and about Syria. But none has shown the kind of enthusiasm and follow-through that we saw when it came to the cruise to nowhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

As it happens Westin’s former employee at ABC, “Nightline” anchor Terry Moran, is currently reporting from inside Syria, with another report from Damascus set to air tonight.

• Chris Wallace is featured in an NFL documentary about Doug Williams, the first African-American quarterback in the NFL to win a Super Bowl. The “Fox News Sunday” host, a well-known Washington Redskins fan, is featured in three parts of the series.

• CBS News foreign correspondent Clarissa Ward answers a few questions for Forbes about her extensive reporting from Syria, as well as sharing a few lessons she’s learned throughout the course of her career. “I started out at the overnight assignment desk which is absolutely the lowest rung on the ladder but I learned humility which is enormously important in this industry,” she said.

• C-SPAN kicks off its feature series on U.S. First Ladies next week with a profile on the the life and legacy of Martha Washington. The report, which airs February 25 at 9pmET, takes viewers from Colonial Williamsburg to Philadelphia to examine Washington’s life and legacy. 

CBS News foreign correspondent Clarissa Ward traveled to New York this week to accept the Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award for her series of “Inside Syria” reports.

“I was the last person to accept my award, and by the time it came around I was feeling pretty humbled because I was just awestruck but what incredibly compelling and diverse reports had been honored,” Ward told TVNewser. “I felt humbled and tremendously honored and very excited.”

Ward said she was particularly proud to accept the award from ABC’s Christiane Amanpour, who she called “a heroine and a role model.”

Ward and producer Ben Plesser were the first American journalists to report live from Syria with the rebels. In the past year, she has traveled to the war-torn country six times for reports that have aired on “CBS Evening News” and “60 Minutes.” Ward called reporting from Syria “extremely challenging,” noting the fractured nature of the conflict.

“In conventional warfare you might embed with an army, but this is a completely different kettle of fish,” she said. “You’re embedding with rebel forces and each group has its own ways and its own rules and its own methods.”

Because of this, Ward said she anticipates seeing less reporting from Syria this year.

“I think you’ll see fewer journalists spending time with the rebels, partially because of safety concerns, which are very legitimate,” Ward said. “I really want to go in only when I feel like I have a story that furthers the bigger picture.”

Ward cited the recent experience of NBC’s Richard Engel, who was held captive for several days in Syria last month. Read more

The Alfred I duPont-Columbia University Awards have been handed out, and among the winners was CBS News and correspondent Clarissa Ward, for her “CBS Evening News” series on Syria.

“To report this extraordinary series of nine stories, Ward entered Syria posing as a tourist carrying only a small camera,” the judges noted.

Current TV also took home an award for its “Vanguard” special about “Arming the Mexican Cartel.” Following the award Current announced that the program would return with new episodes next year.

A number of local radio and TV stations and print outlets also received awards. The full list of winners can be viewed here.

Since fighting began in Syria, 26 journalists have been killed in the region. American Journalism Review talks to some of the reporters who have snuck into the country to report on the violence, including CBS News’ Clarissa Ward, who has visited Syria six times since she joined CBS:

On one occasion, the journalists followed Abu Ibrahim and his younger brother Azzu into battle. A video clip aired on CBS shows Ibrahim struggling to drag the limp body of a fallen comrade to safety under heavy gunfire. The rebels had no radio communications and Ibrahim “could not have known that on the other side of the road his brother Azzu also had been shot,” Ward reported.

Ward was in the room when women in the family learned of Azzu’s death and collapsed in grief. His body, along with others killed in the fight, was placed in a hall below the house. At breakfast the next day, Ward sat silently, watching as Ibrahim picked up a piece of traditional flatbread. “He was chewing and chewing, but he couldn’t swallow. Suddenly, he just started to sob. I cried with him,” she recalls. Later, the elder brother led the funeral procession. Read more

CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward was the only American to get a question in at a press conference hosted by the leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal. Ward shouted her question as the conference was coming to a close. “You are a hunter!” one of the Hamas aides said to her afterward.

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• Earlier: Clarissa Ward tells TVNewser about sneaking into Syria: “I was fortunate that I really did slip under the radar”

Meanwhile, CNN International anchor and ABC News global affairs anchor Christiane Amanpour is en route to Cairo for the first one on one interview with Mashal.

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With the situation in Gaza continuing to escalate, the broadcast news divisions are making sure their people are in the region. Additional changes may be made, but for now here is the latest on the assignments in Gaza, Israel and beyond.

ABC News has Christiane Amanpour in Jerusalem, joined by Lama Hasan. Matt Gutman is reporting for ABC from Tel Aviv, while Alexander Marquardt reports from Gaza.

NBC News has Ayman Mohyeldin and Richard Engel in Gaza, Stephanie Gosk and Martin Fletcher in Tel Aviv, Jim Maceda in Cairo, Egypt and Ali Rouzi in Tehran, Iran.

CBS News has Clarissa Ward reporting from Cairo, Charlie D’Agata reporting from Gaza and Allen Pizzey reporting from Israel.

Fox News has Jerusalem correspondents Leland Vittert and David Lee Miller reporting from southwestern Israel, near the Gaza border.

CBS News foreign correspondent Clarissa Ward has her first piece for “60 Minutes” tomorrow night. In it, Ward interviews Free Syrian Army supporter Dr. Maher Nana an American-Syrian doctor who says the West’s refusal to support the rebels is driving Syrians toward radical jihadists for support. Ward also speaks with the leader of one of the jihadi groups, Ahmed al-Abaid who commands several hundred Muslim fundamentalist fighters in Northern Syria. Ward and her team also take viewers to Aleppo, where residents live under constant bombardment as Syria’s 18-month long civil war drags on.

CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward and BBC News correspondent Paul Wood were the co-recipients of the David Bloom award for their intrepid reports from Syria at last night’s Radio & TV Correspondents Association dinner. The David Bloom Award honors the late NBC News correspondent and anchor by recognizing excellence and courage in enterprise, investigative or feature reporting. Additionally, CBS’s Steve Kroft (above) was presented the Joan Barone award for his “60 Minutes” piece on the STOCK act and CBS news cameraman George Christian won the Jerry Thompson award for his extraordinary lifetime achievement. This award was created last year to honor the memory of CNN cameraman Jerry Thompson. Christian is the award’s first recipient.