New Jersey City University Athletics

JERSEY CITY, NJ…DARREN W. MILLER, an award-winning journalist and alumnus of New Jersey City University, and a former All-Conference quarterback for the Gothic Knight football team, has released a new book. Entitled Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web, Miller co-authored the book with Dr. James F. Broderick, an associate professor of English at NJCU.

 

Broderick and Miller will present a reading from their book, published by Information Today, Inc., at an autographing session on Wednesday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Clifton Commons, 395 Route 3 East in Clifton.

 

A first-of-its-kind book, Consider the Source provides an A-to-Z guide to the best and worst Web-based news and information and features in-depth, critical reviews of 100 Web sites. Each review includes an overview of the Web site's strengths and weaknesses, an informed discussion of the site’s origin and history, an opinionated critique of the site's worth, and information on the site’s biases. Each site is rated using a comprehensive five-star system.

 

In the 272-page book, Broderick and Miller focus on mostly free Web sites that have achieved a certain level of prominence, including Al Jazeera, The Nation, Associated Press, National Public Radio, British Broadcasting Corporation, New York Times, Salon, Cable News Network, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Time, Columbia Broadcasting Service, USA Today, CBS News, Village Voice, Fox News, and Washington Post.

 

Miller played two seasons of football for the Gothic Knights in 1999 and 2000. As a sophomore in 2000, the quarterback was named Honorable Mention All-New Jersey Athletic Conference, after throwing for 1,525 yards in 10 games, completing 109 passes for seven touchdowns, on a run-dominated offense. He helped generate 133.7 yards of total offense per game. His father, Roy Miller, was head coach both seasons he competed.

 

He was named NJCU Men’s Athlete of the Week on September 6, 1999 and November 13, 2000. The honor student was also named to the 2000-01 NJAC Academic All-Conference Team. In May 2000, he received the Gothic Knight Academic Achievement Award, which is presented each year to the male and female student-athlete at NJCU with the highest overall grade point average.

 

Perhaps his most memorable game came on November 11, 2000 when he engineered a 97-yard scoring drive in the final 2:35 of the game, to give NJCU an 18-13, come-from-behind win over William Paterson University.

 

Miller earned the starting quarterback job in 1999, turning in an impressive debut in which he threw for 733 yards and seven touchdowns with an efficiency rating of 141.40 in his first two games, before being sidelined for the remainder of the season with a bout of mononucleosis. He was granted a medical hardship waiver for the season.

 

While at NJCU he was the editor-in-chief of The Gothic Times student newspaper and was the recipient of awards from the New Jersey Press Association.

 

Most recently, Miller has written about topics as diverse as the death penalty, natural disasters, murder trials, and municipal corruption. Miller, who has also received awards from the North Carolina Press Association, has served as both a reporter and assistant editor at The Mountaineer before leaving the North Carolina newspaper in April 2006 to work on several book projects. He currently writes about the media for the blog, “Taking Notes.”  Miller resides in Canton, North Carolina.