Existing comment:
The Network Anchor:
"I have one great passion that lives deep within my loins, like a flaming golden hawk: To one day become a network anchor."
-- Ron Burgundy
For more than 60 years, the network anchor has represented the authority and credibility of television news. More than just newsreaders, anchors are seasoned journalists who shape and deliver the day's top stories. In the 1960s and 1970s, when only three broadcast networks dominated television, anchors were at the peak of their power. In 1972, "CBS Evening News" anchor Walter Cronkite was voted "the most trusted man in America."
Today, network anchors complete with cable channels and Internet news sites, and their audiences are less than half the size they used to be. Still, during times of crisis or uncertainty, the anchor is a trusted source. During the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the marathon high-wire work of Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Aaron Brown helped inform and calm a terrified nation.
Women Network Anchors:
The anchor chair is no longer reserved for men only. In 1976, Barbara Walters became the first woman to co-anchor a network evening newscast. In 2010, two of the "Big Three" network newscasts were anchored by Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric. In 2013, PBS's Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff made history as the first female co-anchor team of a network news broadcast. |