Anchors, Television

Television news anchors are among the few journalists known to the public on a national scale. They capture attention because they are vested with a special and powerful role. In addition to keeping the public informed, viewers who watch a television newscast come to feel as though they know the people who report the news. Of all [Page 83]those practicing television journalism, the struggle between the time-honored principles of print and radio journalism and the elements of television appearance, personality, emotion, and celebrity is experienced to the greatest degree by network television news anchors.

Although TV news anchors often ascend to their network posts from local stations and from jobs as correspondents and reporters, they are soon distinguished by their status as the most recognizable figureheads on the nightly network news broadcasts. TV anchors' implicit associations with “hard news” as opposed to softer news and entertainment formats also distinguish them from such other television personalities as program hosts or commentators. Critics note that while British television reporters are rightfully referred to as “newsreaders” (accurately reflecting what they actually do), a marked difference exists in the way they are regarded in the United States where “anchor” and “host” are often used interchangeably. The prestige and notoriety of American television news anchors grew steadily between the inception of the phenomenon in the 1940s and the 1980s, the decade during which they reached their apex in terms of attention and autonomy. Since then, with the influx of competition for viewers' attention from other TV news channels, including cable and satellite, as well as from other newer forms of electronic media, the power of the network television news anchor has been somewhat diluted amidst the sea of available news options, but the anchors are still regarded as an institution within TV news.