Courtesy The Examiner

(July 12, 2010) Mia Harris was a part-time update anchor at the sports radio giant, WFAN. Harris left the station last month citing underappreciation by her employer CBS Radio and, specifically Operations Manager Mark Chernoff.

Harris deciding to quit to pursue other opportunities does not make the story, however.

On the night that she quit the station, a bitter Harris spoke on an Internet radio show, launching her name into orbit, or at least the blogosphere.

“I was upset. I was a little frustrated. …Maybe I acted a little in poor judgment and maybe should not have done that.”

Examiner.com attempted to reach Chernoff for a comment.

While Harris chose to walk away from the ‘FAN, her “poor judgment” led execs to permanently remove her from WCBS-AM, where she also worked as a fill-in update anchor via Shadow Broadcasting.

“There are others out there in this industry, who have much more firepower than I do, [and] fanbase than I do. They are much more relevant, who have said nastier things about him [Chernoff] than I did,” Harris says. “Why doesn’t he try and go be bitter toward them?”

The infamous interview didn’t just garner negative attention by Harris’ former employer; she also became fodder for broadcasting message boards. Harris tells Examiner.com that “people can rip what they want to rip. That’s fine.

“To me, nothing I said was untrue. Nothing I said was unfair,” Harris adds. “Everything I said was on point.”

Even though she already lost wages as a direct result of the railing against Chernoff and CBS, Harris doesn’t think she committed career suicide.

“I went back and listened to it again,” Harris asserts. “It was a mistake, but I don’t think I was really that mean. I really don’t.”

While accepting criticism that she was blowing up her future by speaking out, Harris says people need to understand her rationale.

“It’s not like I was given this awesome, great opportunity. …I struggled paying my bills during the past 2 ½ years.”

As a staffer living shift to shift, she made $19,000 in 2009, which combined pay for update anchoring and covering the Jets.

“I left a part-time job, where I was asked to do full-time responsibilities…. I could have moved to Bakersfield, CA, and probably made $25,000 and lived better,” Harris says. “If that makes me bitter, I’m bitter.”

“From what I hear, she was the ultimate cancer in the clubhouse. She complained about everything and people tell me that she was very difficult to work with,” an industry source tells Examiner.com.

Money was one of the factors that led Harris to finally step away from the station in June. Another was a lack of growth potential.

“I kind of felt that I was working very hard, giving a lot of time, giving a lot of hours. …I wasn’t getting anywhere.”

Harris, who says being eager and proactive is a cornerstone of her work ethic, wanted to be rewarded with a “golden nugget at the end.”

Despite the fact that her resume was padded with the team reporting, Harris had bigger dreams.

“I’m a personality. …I’m not a robot. I’m not an update droid,” Harris says.

She aspired to be a part of something bigger, co-hosting a sports talk show, or least being an integral part of the program.

“For me, it didn’t seem worth it to live like a substitute teacher, hoping I’d get a call this week for work.”

But, an inferior demo that she made years earlier fell on deaf ears with Chernoff.

“He didn’t think that I was very opinionated. …He has since told me that I wasn’t a match or a fit to ever host at WFAN.”

The former anchor, who chose not use the ‘FAN equipment to create a top-notch tape, chalked it up as another upsetting moment.

“I also don’t think it’s very fair to listen to a 90-second clip of someone from four years ago and you’re going to label that. …Don’t people get better?” Harris says. “Maybe, possibly …I’ve grown. I’ve learned. I’m in a better position to, you know, speak more intelligently, be more engaging on the air.”

Harris did gain exposure as a beat reporter, but was irked with her treatment while covering the teams (first the Giants, then the Jets).

“You’re going to pay your beat reporter for a team that just won a Super Bowl $100 a day?” (Veteran New York sports announcer Peter Schwartz recently was named the Jets new beat reporter. Examiner.com could not confirm if he is getting paid the same daily rate.)

Harris says that the station refused to give her any additional payment, including for any travel expenses. One particular incident ruffled her feathers while traveling with the Jets on their playoff run in January.

“I was asked to give up higher-paying shifts at other stations … to go cover the Jets for $100.”

Not knowing where the Jets were headed until about a week before the eventual kickoff in Cincinnati, Harris didn’t just incur airline penalties.

“Because the flight was so much money on such short notice, I couldn’t expense food.”

In retrospect, Harris says that was one of the red flags showing WFAN brass wanted her out.

Her switch to the Jets daily beat also became a contentious point for her. Initially she was asked in the off-season about her interest. Harris says she had reservations, primarily because the Jets training facility was about 30 miles from her home. To make it more palatable, Harris attempted to get mileage reimbursement but was denied.

She decided against taking the Jets job.

However, Harris was given an ultimatum by WFAN management led by Chernoff—cover the Jets or cover no other team.

“I did it. …I wasn’t happy with the response that I got from the elder statesmen at the station about them not being willing to work with me after I kind of showed a commitment for a year and a half to them,” Harris says.

The relationship between Harris and Chernoff, already strained, now indicated that Harris’ days at WFAN, if not the company, might be numbered.

Six months ago, Harris sought help from her boss for relocation to another CBS-owned station in the country. She was told, though, that there were no opportunities available.

“Yet, in that time period, I saw multiple people placed in positions that I would have loved. …So if there was nothing, how did they get the jobs?

“…I don’t believe that he [Chernoff] was ever on board to help me in any way, shape or form,” Harris contends.

And yet, Harris stuck it out, getting more frustrated by the day. She finally reached a boiling point when a former Baltimore sports talk radio host, Anita Marks, was hired as a fill-in co-host.

“To me, that was kind of the final straw,” Harris admits. “If they’re gonna go out, find other people, bring them in here to give them opportunities and I’m not going to get any opportunities—why do I want to continue to give my time to this place? ... I just didn’t see any benefit.”

In the end, Harris, who does part-time anchor work for mlb.com, is comfortable with the controversial choice she made.

“I just left underappreciated [and] undervalued,” Harris said. “I’ve got to live my life for me. I can’t live my life for WFAN as the end all be all.”

Quitting was a matter of pride for her, not wanting to be “abused anymore.”

Calling her marriage with WFAN a bad fit, Harris isn’t certain if she wants to try fitting in at another radio station.

So now, Harris, originally from Miami, finds herself at a crossroads.

“I have to reevaluate what to do with my life right now; because I get the feeling that maybe I’m not very good at this. …I thought there was this big, grand future for me,” Harris reflected. “…All of the hard work and all of the positive feedback that I got has left me with nothing.”

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