Chasing ambulances benefits ABC newsman

PASADENA, Calif. -- Summoned to ABC News President David Westin's office, John Miller did what anyone would when called by the boss: wrack his brain to figure out what he'd done wrong.

"Sit down," Westin commanded.

"Am I being fired?" Miller blurted out.

Quite the contrary. ABC's busy crime and terrorism reporter was being offered a plum job, co-anchor of "20/20." Every Friday, he gets to sit next to television legend Barbara Walters on the network's newsmagazine program.

This week he starts filling a chair that has been vacant since Hugh Downs retired in 1999. He's checking for tacks.

In a business where virtually everyone dreams of becoming a network anchor, Miller was an exception. He had never anchored a newscast of any sort, even during two decades in local New York City news. He was a cop reporter.

It was a job the 43-year-old Miller was virtually born into. His father was a syndicated newspaper gossip columnist and would bring John, as young as 9 years old, along chasing ambulance and cop calls at night.

He sold photos of accidents and fires to newspapers. In his teen-age years, he began doing legwork on crime stories for New York television stations.

"Most kids grow up playing cowboys and Indians, or cops and robbers, and they grow out of it," he said. "I never grew out of the cops and robbers. I thought that stuff was fascinating, and I wanted to plug into it."

When he tipped a reporter to a slaying that later was publicized in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar," the grateful TV newsman gave Miller $20. That was big money for a 14-year-old.

Valuable connections

Miller began his on-air TV career at 16. He kept it up, at three New York stations including WNBC-TV, for two decades until, in 1994, he joined the cops. He became a deputy to former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton, in charge of all communications.

"I knew an awful lot about the police, but not as much as I thought I did," he said. "What was more interesting to me was, I thought I knew a lot about the press, only to find out I knew very little or nothing. Because when you're on the other side, it's all different."

If he was plugged in to the law enforcement community before, the Bratton connection made it even more so. It was valuable when Miller joined ABC News in 1997.

Paged to report to work immediately last Sept. 11, Miller took out his police radio. By knowing what came over the scanner, and calling his contacts, Miller was able to keep up a running commentary that startled ABC anchorman Peter Jennings.

Even more valuable over the past few months was Miller's expertise in the al-Qaida terrorist network. He was the last Western reporter to interview Osama bin Laden, back in 1998.

Taken to bin Laden's lair at the time, his guards said the terrorist leader wanted to see Miller's questions in advance. Miller said ABC didn't do that, and a guard clicked his assault rifle in response. Miller submitted his questions.

Not knowing Arabic, and not having bin Laden's words immediately translated, Miller tried to keep eye contact by nodding at his words and feigning fascination at what he said.

When the interview was over, Miller's translator told him he had a big story -- bin Laden had said he was going to kill as many Americans as he could.

"What was I doing when he was saying that?" Miller asked his translator.

"You were nodding in agreement," he replied.

Changes since attacks

Miller's ascendance at ABC News coincided with Walters' desire for an on-air partner. It was what she had done most of her career, and working alone had left her few opportunities to take a night off.

She conceded she wouldn't have considered Miller before Sept. 11, not thinking he was ready. But she and Westin had the same idea when they talked about it later in the fall.

"Not only does he bring us the kinds of stories that John can do with the background that he has, but he also has humor, as you can see," Walters said. "We feel good together with each other."

Since Sept. 11, as Miller has worked constantly producing stories for ABC newscasts, people he knows would comment on his visibility. They mean well when they say to Miller that "the Sept. 11 thing really worked out for you."

He sets them straight. He ticks off the names of all his friends who died, most notably former FBI terrorism expert John O'Neill, who stood in Miller's backyard over the summer and lamented that for all his work, he still hadn't cracked all the terrorist cells. O'Neill had just left the FBI for a job as head of World Trade Center security.

"I think it worked out terribly for me," Miller said. "If the devil came along and said, 'You can have your friends back, but you won't be the anchor of '20/20' and nobody will know who you are out there,' of course I would jump at that."