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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While much has been made of the mistakes that were reported during the aftermath of the Boston bombings, the general consensus among media watchers has been that two journalists stood out for their accuracy and informative reports: NBC’s Pete Williams and CBS’ John Miller.

Miller gets a lengthy profile from the AP on how he got so much right. The short version: experience working for law enforcement agencies, and exceptional sources.

“Sources are people you meet on other stories and you develop them into sources of information,” he said. “I’m calling friends, and I’m asking them, ‘What’s happening here?

For his part, Miller said, “I am reluctant to criticize authorities.”

“My interpretation of when they need to be (criticized) and somebody else’s might be different,” he said. “If you’ve been there and you know how that works and what it’s like, and how easy it is to take potshots from the outside, your criticism is more measured, your analysis of what is worthy of criticism and what isn’t is slightly different.”

A surefire sign that a reporter is at the top of their game is when competitors want to book him. As the investigation continues into the aftermath of the Boston bombings, CBS News senior correspondent John Miller, has been a regular not only on the Eye network, but elsewhere too.

Last night he was booked on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live”:

This morning, he was back on “CBS This Morning”:
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All three evening newscasts were expanded Monday after a pair of explosions killed at least two people at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The newscasts began shortly after President Obama addressed the nation from the White House press briefing room at 6:10pmET. NBC’s Brian Williams, ABC’s Diane Sawyer and CBS’ Scott Pelley had been anchoring coverage on their respective networks since the news broke shortly after 3pmET. ABC News and NBC News took brief breaks from their respective special reports just before the official start of the evening newscasts at 6:30pmET.

CBS News had Terrell Brown reporting from the scene and Don Dahler reporting from Massachusetts General Hospital. At the beginning of “Evening News,” correspondent John Miller took a few minutes to “clarify all these reports we’re seeing about a suspect in the media.” Saying he wanted to “proceed very carefully from here on out,” Miller reported that the person who was detained is a Saudi national who was seen running from the scene. “That may mean a lot, that may mean nothing at all,” Miller cautioned, noting that many people were running away from the blasts.

On NBC News, Williams was joined by Katy Tur in Boston, Chuck Todd from Washington D.C. and Pete Williams on the Boston police investigation. Williams interviewed an eyewitness, Serdar Ozturk, who saw the explosion from the finish line. “People’s faces instantly changed from smile to tears, and fear,” he told Williams. “People started running for their lives.”

ABC News had reports from senior national correspondent Jim Avila, senior Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas and Linsey Davis from the scene. Sawyer also checked in with Alex Perez in Chicago and Cecelia Vega in Los Angeles about security precautions in place in those two cities. “World News” ended with a montage of still photos from the scene. “We thank you so much for watching tonight,” Sawyer said. “Boston, as you know, is one of America’s great cities, filled with resilience and spirit. So on this day, when something terrible happened, we wanted to remind you of all those who rushed to help.”

All three networks have more extended coverage planned. Williams will anchor a special report at 10pmET on NBC, Terry Moran will anchor “Nightline” live at 12:35amET on ABC, and Pelley remained on the air with “Evening News” through 8pmET.

In the high-stakes world of TV news, sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. CBS Sportscaster Jim Nantz was in Augusta, Georgia covering the Masters golf tournament (CBS has the exclusive TV rights) when he saw golf legend Jack Nicklaus walking by. He did what any good journalist would do right before he was scheduled for a live-shot: he asked Nicklaus to join him.

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Also, on “CTM,” correspondent John Miller and the co-anchors were joined by John Walsh, the host of “America’s Most Wanted,” which was recently canceled by Lifetime. Walsh explained the success of the show in catching criminals, and made an argument for it to be resurrected in some form:
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Hugh Downs, John Miller, John Stossell, Chris Cuomo and now add David Muir‘s name to the list of anchors of ABC’s “20/20.” With Cuomo’s departure to CNN, ABC wasted no time in pairing Muir, who anchors “ABC World News” on the weekends, with Elizabeth Vargas on the ABC News magazine.

“David has been an authoritative presence at the anchor desk, most recently anchoring nearly five hours straight as we learned of the horrible events unfolding in Newtown,” writes ABC News president Ben Sherwood in a note to staff. “I’m delighted he’s bringing his ample storytelling skills to Friday nights in primetime, where Elizabeth and the team are delivering the biggest audience in years.”

Sherwood also made mention of Cuomo’s departure. “Chris has been a unique voice at the anchor desk and a valued colleague and friend. We’ll miss his energy, commitment and humor and we wish him the very best in this new venture.”

• After the jump, David Muir gives MediabistroTV‘s Cubes a tour of ABC News HQ.

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It’s Pres. Obama’s second inauguration, but it’ll be the first time CBS’s Scott Pelley has anchored an Inauguration Day. Pelley will lead CBS News coverage beginning at 10amET Monday following a three-hour “CBS This Morning” with hosts Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell in Washington, DC.

Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett, Wyatt Andrews, Sharyl Attkisson, Margaret Brennan, Jan Crawford, John Dickerson, John Miller, Byron Pitts, Bill Plante and Chip Reid will all contribute to the coverage.

CBS will also broadcast the official swearing-in Sunday at NoonET. The full plan, after the jump…

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New York Times‘ David Carr profiles CBS News senior correspondent John Miller, who has spent his professional life bouncing between jobs in TV and in public service. Carr calls Miller, “a newsie by birth.” His father, John J. Miller, was a syndicated gossip columnist and often brought his son along on stories.

“I’ve been going to crime scenes since I was 9 years old,” Miller says. “It would not be unusual for me to see Sammy Davis Jr. at the Copacabana on Friday night and then be at the scene of a murder in Washington Square on Saturday night.”

At 14, Miller was skipping gym class at Montclair High School and getting assignments at WNYW-TV. After stints in local news he went to work for the NYPD, then back to news at ABC, then back to law enforcement with the FBI before deciding to get back in the TV game.

“My wife said to me, ‘Let me get this straight, you are going to leave a good, safe job in government and wander around New York in the worst economy in years looking for a job as a reporter? That’s your plan?’” he said.

It was. He talked to Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of “60 Minutes.”

“He is the definition of a pure reporter,” Fager says, “a really great fit with what we are trying to do here. On the big stories, we don’t want packages, we don’t do graphics, we want information. I could listen to John Miller report a story all day.”

Yesterday afternoon, CBS News announced that senior correspondent John Miller scored the “first television interview” with NYPD officer Lawrence DePrimo who was caught on camera giving a pair of boots to a homeless man. An excerpt ran on yesterday’s “CBS Evening News,” with the full report airing this morning.

One little problem: ABC’s Dan Harris also interviewed Officer DePrimo for “World News.” NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk spoke to the officer,  the Arizona tourist who took the photo and the sales clerk who sold the shoes, for a story that aired on yesterday’s “NBC Nightly News.” The officer and the tourist also appeared together this morning on “Today.”

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After the jump, the CBS story from this morning, with the mention of the “first TV interview” scrubbed:
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The broadcast networks are planning special reports for the 11:30 AM court appearance of James Holmes, the man who opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing 12 and wounding dozens of others.

On CBS, Scott Pelley will anchor, joined by correspondent John Miller. On ABC Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will anchor, joined by David Muir. On NBC, Brian Williams will anchor, joined by Savannah Guthrie and Kate Snow, with Mike Taibbi in the courtroom itself.

The cable news channels will, of course, also be providing live coverage as part of their dayside news programming.

Update: The special reports are on, and we have a first look at Holmes in court. The feed went in and out of audio around 11:40, and the networks had to pull out around 11:42 as a result. The cause seems to be the wireless streaming tech powering the live feed.