News Staffer Lands Big Apple Beat

Staffers at The Dallas Morning News have been scratching their heads since learning recently that The New York Daily News has snatched away former city desk projects reporter Laura Miller to write a column three limes a week, alternating with Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jimmy Breslin.

That’s quite a billing for an unknown quantity, but apparently Daily News editor Gil Spencer has confidence in the former Morning News staffer- to the tune of $75,000 for a one-year contract. (Spencer has a reputation for finding diamond-in-the-rough wordsmiths.)

Ironically, those who knew Miller at the News say putting words on paper was not her forte. “The hire stunned a lot of folks here,” says one Morning News staffer. “Laura was a person recognized for her reporting ability, not necessarily her writing ability.”

But Miller says it was her solid news reporting background that convinced the editors at The Daily News to hire her. “They were looking for a strong reporter, someone who is energetic to tear around the city,” Miller says. In other words, a female version of Breslin, who. Miller notes, “does a ton of reporting in his column. They didn’t want a puff column.”

Miller says she chose the column-writing job over another offer from the Baltimore Sun to work as an investigative reporter. The Stamford. Connecticut, native worked as a reporter for the Miami Herald and freelanced in Europe before joining the Dallas Morning News three years ago.

As D went to press. Miller’s work had not debuted in the New York tabloid. She says she’s written several columns that were due to be reviewed by the editors at the Daily News.