Women as News Anchors

Women as News Anchors

Women in all careers are striving to gain equality in the work force

today, and female television news anchors are definitely part of the fight. The

road to television news anchoring is a rocky one, where only a few women survive

and many fail. Where progress was once thought to have been made, there aren't

many females getting ahead in the world of television news. Today, there is a

very slow, if any, gain in the numbers of women who succeed.

There are many questions surrounding the subject of women in television

news, and I will attempt to answer relevant ones in this paper. How have the

women that actually make it to the top and succeed as anchorwomen, done it?

What does it take to make it? Why do those few endure it/enjoy it? Why has it

been and still is difficult for women? What are the expectations of women in

the field, as opposed to the expectations of men?

I am interested in this topic because I once aspired to become a

television broadcaster. I still have inspiration in me, but not quite as much

due to the negative and discouraging aspects I have heard about in classes and

in the media. I am not sure that I could be happy in a career such as this, and

I know there are great difficulties in "making it" in this profession. I have

read about the incredible ambition of successful females in television news, and

it seems like it takes a special kind of passion to want to keep up in the

business.

I kept my questions in mind when gathering research material. While

focusing on the key questions, I was able to find information that led me to

form answers to them. Christine Craft's biography told of her individual

experience of being fired on the basis of her looks and her age. I realized

from reading her story that she had a "nose for news", a passion for telling it

to the world, and a unique spark that made her a good journalist, yet those

qualities weren't enough in her case. She took that passion and spark, filed a

sexual discrimination case and won.

Hard News: Women in Broadcast Journalism had a few chapters that were

relevant to today, and I could draw on some information for my paper. However,

much of the information was historical and not helpful to answering my questions.

Battling for News concentrated mainly on print journalism. There was

material about the fi...

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...ays of anchormen, "Old anchors never fade away. And they can't be

killed by mortal means" (Katz 1995, p. 164).

Sadly, forward movements aren't apparent today by women in television

news. Forty years ago, a female gaining the anchor position on the evening news

was a leap forward. Today "it feels more like a step backward, an attempt to

stuff accomplished, contemporary women into an ill-fitting straightjacket" (Katz

1995, p. 164).

It is apparent that women news anchors face many more struggles than men

in the field. It takes a unique individual to fight through those struggles and

strive for what they want most: to relay news throughout the world. Equality

with men is far from being reached, but a few females have stood their ground

and hopefully made a difference for others that follow. If people open their

eyes and realize there are plenty of women who are just as, if not more,

competent than men at holding an anchor position, women could gain respect

within the field. For now, the few women who find success and are willing to

endure the hardships that come along will likely survive in the business, at

least until age hinders their physical appearance.