But over the course of a few years, CBS used more than a dozen newscasters, considering the role less important than the visualized stories. The narrator was never even seen by viewers.ĬBS spent the 1940s creating the newscast format we know today, with a newscaster guiding the viewer through the news. As late as 1948, NBC’s main offering, The Camel Newsreel Theater, was controlled by the advertiser and a newsreel company. When television gained a large audience in the late 1940s, the main newscaster was hardly the most important element of the broadcast. And as we’ve seen, the rise of the star anchor can hamper the news gathering ability and journalistic integrity of major media networks. The title wasn’t even affixed to the nightly newscaster until the mid-1960s.īut over time, the position’s prominence has grown, influencing the economics and control structure within news organizations. How did we get here: a place where news organizations put so much power in one person, a place where that person is allowed – even encouraged – to frequent entertainment and “fake news” shows?Ĭontrary to popular belief, the anchor has not always dominated American television news (a topic I’ve recently written about for American Journalism). Amidst the media tumult over NBC anchor Brian Williams’ apparent journalistic crimes, a little history on the role of the news anchor can help with some big questions.
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