How To Become An Anchor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an anchor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

An Anchor or a news anchor is responsible for informing the public by reporting events and news stories. You are responsible for educating the public on what's happening locally or around the world. You will be reporting on-air while interacting with reporters. You will also be tasked to gather, verify, and analyze data and information from different sources.

As an Anchor, you need to have great research skills. You are to find information on specific topics and filter out the best and most relevant information among all types of information you get. Next is speaking skills. Of course, as an Anchor, you will be talking a lot. Therefore, you should know what words to speak and how to deliver the news in order for the audience to easily understand your report. Next is writing skills. Aside from speaking, you will also be writing, and you should be able to do this efficiently. You need to be able to express yourself verbally and in writing clearly.

You can earn an annual average salary of $87,867 as an Anchor. You will also have the chance to take on other roles through the years. You can be an Executive Producer, a Consultant, a Marketing Manager, and a Director of Communications and Marketing.

ScoreAnchorUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,715

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate -10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 9.55%

Black or African American 6.26%

Hispanic or Latino 12.33%

Unknown 4.35%

White 67.21%

Gender

female 44.11%

male 55.89%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.1

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an anchor

Explore anchor education requirements

Most common anchor degrees

Bachelor's

66.3 %

Associate

11.1 %

High School Diploma

10.3 %

Start to develop specific anchor skills

Skills	Percentages
News Stories	21.03%
Story Development	6.63%
Facebook	5.52%
Twitter	5.31%
Local News	4.92%

Complete relevant anchor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New anchors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an anchor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real anchor resumes.

Research anchor duties and responsibilities

Read off teleprompter and interact with co-anchor.
Write and update KOTA's website and Facebook page.
Serve as primetime anchor and reporter for local ABC affiliate.
Co-Anchore the 6 p.m. news at the ABC affiliate in Alaska.

Prepare your anchor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your anchor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an anchor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable anchor resume templates

Build a professional anchor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your anchor resume.